Lunar Rainbow

  • Post by Weather & Climate
  • May 13, 2022
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Did you know that apart from the usual rainbow, there is also a lunar one?

Lunar (or night) rainbows are really rare. The reason is an exact combination of obligatory factors that must coincide in order for a lunar rainbow to appear in the night sky.

What are these factors?

- Moon phase, close to full moon;

- Dark cloudless sky;

- Low height of the Moon above the Earth;

- High humidity;

- Rain opposite the Moon

It is when all these moments coincide at the same time, there is a chance to see one of the rarest atmospheric phenomena: the lunar rainbow.

Most often this happens next to large waterfalls. Lunar rainbows were recorded, for example, near waterfalls in the USA and Canada, on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, in the Caucasus, Yamal and in the foothills of Kazakhstan.


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