Why this word is great
PARASELENE — [Noun] A luminous spot or optical phenomenon appearing beside the moon, caused by the refraction of moonlight through ice crystals in the atmosphere. From Ancient Greek παρά (pará, "beside") + σελήνη (selḗnē, "moon"), it is the moon’s spectral companion, a trick of light and geometry. Unlike a "moon halo" (which encircles the lunar disc like a saint’s aureole) or a "sun dog" (its solar counterpart, blazing with daytime arrogance), a paraselene is a quieter deceit—a ghost moon hovering just beyond the real one. It is the cold gleam of a second silver coin on a frozen lake, the pale echo of a lighthouse beam in fog, or the way a solitary streetlamp might briefly double itself in a rain-slicked window—an illusion so perfect it almost feels like mercy.