Paraselenae

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An optical phenomenon characterized by bright spots that appear near the moon, typically seen as false moons or light reflections in the sky
2. A term describing the twin bright spots that can sometimes be observed on either side of the moon, resembling secondary lunar bodies
3. This refers to atmospheric conditions producing luminous patches adjacent to the moon, often resulting in an illusion of additional moons

Etymology: "Paraselenae" is the plural of "paraselene", a word built from two Ancient Greek elements: "pará", meaning "beside", and "selḗnē", meaning "moon". The compound describes what you see when sunlight refracts through ice crystals in the upper atmosphere, producing bright patches flanking the moon, often at roughly the same height above the horizon as the moon itself. To an observer they look like extra moons hanging alongside the real one. The Greek word "selḗnē" also gave English "selenium", "selenology" and related terms, so the moon-root turns up in scientific vocabulary far more often than most readers would guess. Its use in English descriptions of halo phenomena follows the same pattern of drawing on classical roots to name something new: the Greek parts were combined to label an optical effect that the ancients would have seen but had no need to name in this way.