An Anthology of Astro-Examiner's Musings

Rainbows & Moonbows: Science, Legends, myths & Messages of Hope

I just recently discovered there are night time rainbows. Moonbows, as they are called, only appear when certain factors combine in a certain way.

The moonbow, like the rainbow, requires light and droplets of water in the air. But while a rainbow is created by the direct light of the Sun, a moonbow occures when the Sun's light reflects off the Full Moon into a misty night.

To catch sight of a moonbow, you must wait for a nearly Full Moon riding low in the sky ~ then turn your back to the Moon and if there is rainfall ahead of you, you might be lucky enough to get a glimpse of this seldom witnessed ghostly phenomena. * See note

That said... Moonbows are seldom seen because so many conditions must come together in just the right way... and to see a good one is very rare. They look exactly the same as a rainbow except the bands of the arc are sharply defined in various shades of grey... from dark to light. Moonbows, appearing out of the mist on a dark night can seem quite ghostly to the beholder, but the colors can be captured in photographs by using a long exposure.

Scientist, ascribing no meaning to the rainbow, tell us they are an explainable optical phenomena, and the dictionary simply defines a rainbow as..."a bow appearing in the heavens opposite the sun that is caused by the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays in drops of rain".

But many believe there are messages in such "explainable phenomena" and that the legends and myths of our ancestors contain metaphorical truths.

 A Medieval German legend says there will be no rainbows for forty years before the end of the world, but the most famous legend is the Irish legend that says there'ss a pot of gold at the end of rainbow.

Many superstions have also been attached to the rainbow. Some say it's bad luck if a rainbow's end meets water and good luck if both ends meet the ground. It is also said to be lucky omen to be born on the day a rainbow appears and bad luck to look at the base of a rainbow. 

Many ancient cultures believed the rainbow was the bridge to heaven. Some North American Indians call the rainbow a "Pathway of Souls." In Japan a rainbow is called the "Floating Bridge of Heaven." In Hawaii and Polynesia, myths say the rainbow is the "path to the upperworld." People in the Austrian Alps say righteous souls go to heaven by way of the rainbow. A myth of New Zealand says that dead chiefs go up a rainbow to the afterlife.

In Greek mythology Iris was the messenger goddess who walked the rainbow to deliver messages from the gods. And the Bible tells us that the rainbow is a message of hope... Gods' promise written in the sky.

So ~ What's the message brought to us by a moonbow?

Perhaps the moonbow's message is that even on the darkest night of the soul, there is a faint glimmer of hope.

*Note ~ There are very few places in the world where moonbows occur frequently. But some waterfalls seem to combine with the Moon to create perfect conditions. Waterfalls like Kentucky's Cumberland falls, the Victoria falls in Zambia or those in Waimea Hawaii offer the best opportunity to witness this lunar delight.