Moonbow

Moonbow

WHAT IS A MOONBOW?

Moonbows are rainbows caused by the moon instead of the sun. They are rarer than rainbows because the weather and astronomical conditions have to be perfect.

WHAT IS A MOONBOW?

Moonbows (also known as a lunar rainbow or white rainbow) are rainbows caused by the moon instead of the sun. They are rarer than rainbows because the weather and astronomical conditions have to be perfect.

WHAT CAUSES A MOONBOW?

Just like rainbows in the day, the water droplets have to be at the correct angle opposite the direction of the light source to reflect, refract, and disperse the light. Sounds simple enough, but there are a lot of factors.

1. The sky needs to be clear or relatively clear
2. It needs to be a full moon or near full moon.
3. No other bright light source can be present.
4. There needs to be sufficient mist. Moonbows are more frequent in some parts of the world where the waterfall is creating a lot of mist, while other parts, they only occur in spring when enough water if flowing.
5. There needs to be enough wind and in the right direction to pick up the mist.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO THE NAKED EYE?

Moonbows look more like a white or silver streak to the human eye. You will see the shape of the bow, but the colors just aren’t bright enough for our eyes to see. That’s where the magic of photography comes in!

Here are the places where you can find moonbows:

MOONBOW LOCATIONS AROUND THE WORLD

• Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California (watch from the foot of either upper or lower falls)
• Cumberland Falls, Kentucky (watch from behind the railing at the upper overlook area)
• Victoria Falls, Zambia / Zimbabwe
• Waimea Canyon State Park, Hawaii
• Skogafoss Waterfall, Iceland
• Wallaman Falls, Australia
• Jerome, Arizona

Not all the locations have predictions put together, but if you plan on visiting Yosemite National Park, Texas State University has put together a website to help predict the dates and times! At Cumberland Falls, there’s a chance it shows up every month around the full moon as long as all the other conditions are right.