Information

Moonbow has a minion!

Schatten the Banare

Moonbow

The

Blacklight Endeavor
Owner:

Kinnoyu

Age: 17 years, 2 months, 2 weeks

Born: March 6th, 2007

Adopted: 10 years, 6 months, 5 days ago

Adopted: November 15th, 2013

Pet Spotlight Winner
May 20th

Statistics

Level: 68
Strength: 111
Defense: 77
Speed: 64
Health: 73
HP: 67/73
Intelligence: 121
Books Read: 113
Food Eaten: 19
Job: Planetarium Assistant

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Kinnoyu

Lunar Rainbows

Did you know that you can sometimes view a rainbow at night?

Instead of light from the sun hitting water, light from the moon can hit water droplets forming a "moonbow" or lunar rainbow. In order for there to be enough light to form a moonbow, the moon must be at or nearly at a full moon. Even then, moonbows are significantly duller than their solar sisters. Sharpness of the moonbow may also blur if it is a waning/waxing moon.

But how are rainbows formed in the first place? Below is a diagram that shows what happens when light hits water droplets in the air. For the primary bow to form, the light is first refracted by the droplet, reflected within the droplet, then refracted back out. For a secondary bow to form, the light is reflected twice within the droplet, which also causes it to appear reversed. The reason secondary, and even tertiary and quaternary, are not as bright as the primary bow is because extra rainbows are formed with the remaining light left over after the primary bow is made, thus each extra bow is lighter than the last.

Because there is already so little light available for moonbows to form, double moonbows are exceedingly rare, though not impossible. Lots of things need to happen in order for you to view a moonbow or rainbow. The source of light, whether it be the moon or sun, must be 42 degrees or lower above the ground in order for the bow to be visible. There must be enough moisture in the air and droplets must be large enough for the light to separate into colors, otherwise it will appear white/gray like a fogbow (yes, fogbows are a thing as well!).