Rainbows In The Dark

[Morayastro]

Has anybody ever seen a rainbow at night?

If somebody had asked me this question a couple of years ago I would have told them not to be stupid, you only get rainbows through the day.

Last year whilst driving along the A9 in the Scottish highlands it was a full moon and light drizzly rain and off to my left I seen my first night time rainbow. Only in one colour though, it was a pale green.

Just wish I had my camera with me!

[Telrad]

Yes, there are indeed nocturnal rainbows often called moonbows that form when the moon is bright enough to have its light reflected and refracted through water droplets. Since the moon's brightness is far less than the sun's, the colors of the moonbow are muted, often appearing white or gray instead of the rainbow's full-color spectrum. They can occur anywhere in the world, but are much more common in the tropics, where isolated showers are more likely to occur with a mainly clear sky than at mid or high latitudes, where nighttime showers tend to be accompanied by an overcast. http://www.atoptics.co.uk/rainbows/moonbow.htm