Today, we refer to Moonbows—or “lunar rainbows” as they’re sometimes called—as rainbows that occur at night. Lunar halos are other circles of light around the Moon. But don’t be fooled! While halos are also created when Moonlight refracts off of water in the atmosphere, this water is in the form of frozen ice crystals in cirrus clouds—not liquid droplets. Another difference between the two is that a halo creates a ring around the Moon while the center of a moonbow’s arc appears in the direction opposite of the Moon.
Moonbows occur on the opposite side of the Moon and tend to look white to the human eye. This is because their colors are not bright enough to be perceived by the receptors in the human eye. It is possible, however, to view the colors in a moonbow using long exposure photography.
Moonbows are more frequent in some locations around the world. Most of these locations tend to have waterfalls, which create layers of mist in the air. Some of these locations are the Yosemite National Park in California and Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in Kentucky, U.S.; Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe; and Waimea in Hawaii, U.S.
Picture Credit : Google
