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A moon bow is a rainbow produced by the light from the moon rather than from the sun. Moon bows are relatively faint, due to the smaller amount of light from the Moon and they are always in the opposite part of the sky from the moon.
Notice the stars!
(m5ph-rainbow-moon-bow) Moon Bow, Yosemite Falls
photo credit: Larry Marshall
Viewing a Moon Bow
Moon bows are very rare. The moon must be bright and not too high (summer is the best season), the sky must be dark for the faint bow to be visible and there must be rain in the direction opposite the moon.
Viewing a Moon Bow at a Waterfall
There must be a full or near full moon in a cloudless area of the sky. The waterfall must be flowing strong with lots of mist in the air. Also, the waterfall needs to be facing the moon in the sky.
Do not expect to see much color with the unaided eye because moon bows colors are usually too faint to excite the color sensors in our eyes and we therefore see moon bows as a series of grey shades instead of colors.
Photographing a Moon Bow
Photographing a moon bow requires a sturdy tripod and a camera with a manual exposure mode. Set the manual camera to F4 aperture with a 4 minute exposure and use 400 or 800 speed film.
Digital cameras work too, but you need to know how to use you camera well. Digital settings are: aperture f2.8; ISO Speed 1600; Shutter Speed at the maximum of 16 seconds.
All cameras and light sources are different. The above settings may not work for you, but you will never know until you try.
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