BajaNomad

Night rainbow aka: "moonbow" - ever seen one?

Maderita - 4-23-2022 at 12:12 PM

What a remarkable sight!
We had the good fortune to happen upon a beautiful moonbow in 2010. We were driving north from Cañón el Tajo into an approaching storm. The full moon was rising in the east, over Laguna Salada. Four offroad lights lit up the road in front of us as we bounced along the miles of dirt roads through the pinyon forest of the Sierra de Juárez.

Somehow, my amiga, an observant passenger in the back, noticed an arc of glowing light to her left. We stopped, shut off all the lights and viewed the incredible moonbow. It had an ethereal silvery glow, in a full arc. There was a faint red band near the base of each side.

A little research on the internet indicates that moonbows are an unusual occurrence. Conditions have to be just right: full moon, rain opposite the moon, angle of the moon, and the moon not obscured by cloud cover.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonbow

We were lucky. This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime event, unless deliberately chasing moonbows. Now that I know what conditions to look for, perhaps I will get lucky once again.

There is another type of moonbow, induced by spray, which is rather predictable. Yosemite Falls is a famous example. https://www.yosemite.com/yosemite-moonbow/

Paco Facullo - 4-23-2022 at 12:54 PM

There's one more type of "MoonBow" I've experienced.

While in India and getting the famous "Delhi-Belly" & using a squat toilet,
If the light from the bare light bulb is JUST right, the MoonBow will show up while the major squirts are blowing !!:wow::wow:

Note, you must be looking between your spread legs to get the FULL experience...

Hook - 4-23-2022 at 01:01 PM

I saw one just 2-3 days ago. Couldn't really distinguish any colors, but it had the shape.

It was due to extremely humid, misty conditions. In fact, this April has had, by far, the highest humidity of any April since I have lived here on the coast of Sonora. Wind out of the south has been relentless.

4x4abc - 4-23-2022 at 03:33 PM

seen it many many times (well, I spend a lot of time outdoors)
sun as well as moon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22%C2%B0_halo

moon halo winter.jpeg - 91kB

[Edited on 4-23-2022 by 4x4abc]

Maderita - 4-23-2022 at 04:01 PM

Harald,
Not dismissing the halos, which are really cool, but a moonbow is a quite different. Photographs of a moonbow can show rainbow colors. The human observer will see a silver/light-gray arc to the west (opposite the rising full, or nearly-full, moon).

mtgoat666 - 4-23-2022 at 04:24 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Maderita  
Harald,
Not dismissing the halos, which are really cool, but a moonbow is a quite different. Photographs of a moonbow can show rainbow colors. The human observer will see a silver/light-gray arc to the west (opposite the rising full, or nearly-full, moon).


Sun and moon halos are caused by refraction of light thru ice crystals. Rainbows and moon bows are caused by refraction of light through water droplets.

4x4abc - 4-23-2022 at 05:01 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Maderita  
Harald,
Not dismissing the halos, which are really cool, but a moonbow is a quite different. Photographs of a moonbow can show rainbow colors. The human observer will see a silver/light-gray arc to the west (opposite the rising full, or nearly-full, moon).


cool!

missed the wiki link

BajaBlanca - 4-23-2022 at 07:42 PM

Boy, you learn something new every day! Thanks.

The Wonderer - 4-26-2022 at 12:37 PM

32+ years ago, for our honeymoon, me and the Mrs were on a crewed charter in the BVI's. One evening we were fortunate enough to witness a moonbow. At the time I was unaware of such a thing, but our captain was super excited to finally see one. Have not seen one since.

BajaMama - 4-30-2022 at 10:26 AM

The only one I have seen is at Yosemite Falls.