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7 Magical Moonbow Dates and Locations You Need to Know

While in Yosemite this summer, we caught wind of the moonbow phenomenon. We had no idea it was a thing,and we just happened to be at the right place and at the right time when the moonbow was occurring. The idea of rainbows at night is crazy.

We felt extremely lucky to witness this rare wonder, especially when so many people plan trips out here with no guarantee if it will show up. Ever since seeing our first moonbow, we’ve been obsessed with seeing them all (maybe it’s more me than Jacob).

Magical Moonbows in the World to See in Your Lifetime - Moonbow Locations and Photography Tips // localadventurer.com

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Last Updated: October 7, 2020

7 Magical Moonbow Dates and Locations You Need to Know

Lunar rainbows or spray-bows abound in the glorious affluence of dashing, rejoicing, hurrahing, enthusiastic spring floods, their colors are distinct as those of the sun and regularly and obviously banded, though less vivid. Fine specimens may be found any night at the foot of the Upper Yosemite Fall, glowing gloriously amid the gloomy shadows and thundering waters, whenever there is plenty of moonlight and spray.” – John Muir at Yosemite Falls

What is a Moonbow?

Moonbows are rainbows caused by the moon instead of the sun. They are rarer than rainbows because the weather and astronomical conditions have to be just right for them to appear. You’ll also see them referred to as lunar rainbow, moon rainbow, spray-bows, moonbows, lunar bow, night rainbow, or nighttime rainbow. Whatever it’s called, you get to see a rainbow at night.

What Causes a Moonbow?

Just like rainbows in the day, the water droplets have to be at the correct angle opposite the direction of the light source to reflect, refract, and disperse the light. Science! Sounds simple enough, but there are a lot of factors.

  1. The sky needs to be clear.
  2. It needs to be a full moon or near full moon. It’s usually 2 days before and 2 days after.
  3. No other bright light source can be present.
  4. There needs to be sufficient mist. Moonbows are more frequent in some parts of the world where waterfalls create a lot of mist, while other parts, they only occur in spring when enough water if flowing.
  5. There needs to be enough wind and in the right direction to pick up the mist.

What Does it Look Like to the Naked Eye?

When you look up the moonbow meaning, it actusally defines it as an arch of white light. We can attest to that! Moonbows look more like a white or silver streak to the human eye. You will see the shape of the bow, but the colors just aren’t bright enough for our eyes to see. That’s where the magic of photography comes in!

Moonbow Locations Around the World

Here are the places where you can find moonbows:

  1. Moonbow Yosemite: Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California. Watch from the foot of either upper or lower falls (2021 Dates: April 24 – 28, May 23 – 27, June 22 – 26).
  2. Moonbow Kentucky: Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, Kentucky. See the Cumberland Falls moonbow from behind the railing at the upper overlook area (2020 Dates: Oct 31, November 30 – Dec 30)
  3. Zambia / Zimbabwe Moonbow: Victoria Falls
  4. Moonbow Hawaii: Waimea Canyon State Park
  5. Iceland Moonbow: Skogafoss Waterfall
  6. Australia Moonbow: Wallaman Falls
  7. Arizona Moonbow: Jerome, Arizona

Not all the locations have predictions put together, but if you plan on visiting Yosemite National Park, check out this site for predictions on dates and times! At Cumberland Falls, there’s a chance it shows up every month, even December, around the full moon as long as all the other conditions are right.

Magical Moonbows in the World to See in Your Lifetime - Moonbow Locations and Photography Tips - Rainbows at Night // localadventurer.com

Photography Tips

  • To capture moonbow images, start by using settings you would use to shoot night photography. My settings were 35mm, ISO 500, 8 sec, f/1.6.
  • Adjust accordingly based on how bright or faint the moonbow and surroundings are.
  • Your lens will get wet from the mist. Bring several lens cloths to wipe your lens in between shots (you might also want to bring a raincoat if it’s really misty).
  • If you’re unsure if you see it, just take a photo and see!
  • You’ll be taking a long exposure. Use a tripod and remote shutter release.
  • Bring extra batteries. Long exposure will eat up those batteries.
  • Bring headlamps with a red light feature. There were a ton of other photographers out that night and a few of them kept turning on their headlamps super bright, which ruined other people’s shots.
  • Practice! Spend some time just shooting the night sky to get a hang of your settings. It’s better that you have a general idea so you can move quickly when you get a chance to shoot the Moonbow.
  • Get a rain cover for your camera (especially if it isn’t weather sealed!). Here’s a relatively cheap one that we use.

Have you heard about the moonbow phenomenon? Which one of these are you going to visit first / next?

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Esther + Jacob

Esther and Jacob are the founders of Local Adventurer, which is one of the top 5 travel blogs in the US. They believe that adventure can be found both near and far and hope to inspire others to explore locally. They explore a new city in depth every year and currently base themselves in Las Vegas.

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