HR MacMillan Space Centre - Just for Teachers
Resources to help you teach about astronomy, space science and sustainability
RAINBOWS AT NIGHT
Found this on the website spaceweather.com - Many students ask if you can see a rainbow at night - until now i have always said no.
The recipe for a rainbow couldn't be simpler. Splash sunlight across falling rain and voilà--a luminous arc of mythological beauty. Sunlight is crucial to the process, yet last night in Northern Ireland, a rainbow appeared long after sunset:
How is this possible? Bright moonlight did the job of the sun.
"The clear sky around the Moon and showers to my west provided the perfect environment for the formation of a lunar rainbow," says photographer Martin Mc Kenna. "It was very intense, exhibiting vibrant red, white, and blue colours visible to the naked eye. I've seen these 'bows for two nights in a row!"
The moon is still bright tonight. Readers, if rain begins to fall through the moonlight, be alert for a lunar rainbow of your own.
The recipe for a rainbow couldn't be simpler. Splash sunlight across falling rain and voilà--a luminous arc of mythological beauty. Sunlight is crucial to the process, yet last night in Northern Ireland, a rainbow appeared long after sunset:
How is this possible? Bright moonlight did the job of the sun.
"The clear sky around the Moon and showers to my west provided the perfect environment for the formation of a lunar rainbow," says photographer Martin Mc Kenna. "It was very intense, exhibiting vibrant red, white, and blue colours visible to the naked eye. I've seen these 'bows for two nights in a row!"
The moon is still bright tonight. Readers, if rain begins to fall through the moonlight, be alert for a lunar rainbow of your own.
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