Photograph of a Moonbow (Lunar Rainbow)

A moonbow (also known as a lunar rainbow or white rainbow) is a rainbow that occurs at night. Moonbows are relatively faint, due to the smaller amount of light from the Moon. As with rainbows, they are always in the opposite part of the sky from the moon. Image File history File links LunarRainbowVicFalls_small. ... Image File history File links LunarRainbowVicFalls_small. ... Full featured rainbow in Wrangell-St. ... Apparent magnitude: up to -12. ...

It is difficult to discern colours in a moonbow because the light is usually too faint to excite the cone colour receptors in our eyes. However, the colours appear in long exposure photographs.

A coloured circle around the moon is not a moonbow - it is usually a 22° halo produced by refraction through hexagonal ice crystals in cirrus cloud. Coloured rings close to the moon are a corona - a diffraction phenomenon produced by very small water droplets or ice crystals in clouds. A moon dog is a brightening in the clouds caused by the refraction of moonlight in high-atmosphere cirrus clouds. ...

Famous natural moonbow locations

Few places in the world frequently feature this phenomenon. Cumberland Falls, near Corbin, Kentucky, U.S.A.; Waimea, Hawaii; and Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe are widely known for moonbow occurance. Cumberland Falls by day. ... Corbin is a city in Whitley and Knox counties in southeastern Kentucky. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Waimea may refer to more than one place in the United States: Waimea in Hawai‘i Waimea, Hawaii County, Hawaii Waimea, Kauai County, Hawaii Waimea Bay on O‘ahu Waimea may also refer to: Waimea, a window manager for the Unix X Window System This is a disambiguation... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Moonbows are commonly reported in Yosemite National Park in the United States as a result of the numerous waterfalls in the area. Moonbows are usually found during the night, not the evening. Yosemite redirects here. ...

See also

• Rainbow - A somewhat common daytime, naturally occurring phenomenon involving the sun, similar to the Moonbow.
• Moon dog - Another rare nighttime, naturally occurring phenomenon involving the moon (also known as a Paraselene).

Full featured rainbow in Wrangell-St. ... A moon dog is a brightening in the clouds caused by the refraction of moonlight in high-atmosphere cirrus clouds. ...

External links

• Lunar Rainbow photos from Victoria Falls
• Moonbow picture
• Moonbow picture made with long exposure
• A lot more Moonbows
• Cumberland Falls State Park
• Moonbow in New Zealand