Sunday, March 31, 2013

@Night: Maui: Magical Night Time Rainbow !!!

On the last night before leaving Maui (March 28th), I was on the balcony of the condo on the 9th floor, taking photos of the the constellations over the Pacific. After I took my first shot,  as usual, I zoomed in to the photo to check if the focus is OK. To my utter shock, I noticed a small arc of a rainbow in the photo. I looked up at the western horizon and was able to see a very faint rainbow. To the naked eye, it was visible as a white arc. Of course, a digital camera's powerful sensor can "see" and record more colors.

The previous day was full moon day and the moon was shining brilliantly! It was drizzling very lightly on and off and has created the perfect conditions for the nighttime rainbow (aka, Moonbow or Lunar Rainbow). From 9:20 pm to 11 pm, the rainbow was very active, disappearing briefly and appearing again shortly. As the Moonbow got stronger and stronger, we were clearly able to see the colors and even the secondary rainbow. All of us stayed on our balcony screaming and yelling with joy to watch this "first-in-our-lifetime" phenomenon!!!

Swetha did some on the spot google research and we learned that the following 3 conditions must be met for a Moonbow to form:
1) The moon has to be close to full moon ( + or - 2 days).
2) The moon must not be at greater than 42 degrees from the horizon.
3) It must be raining or drizzling (of course).

On top of this,  for the secondary rainbow to occur, it requires a double reflection of the light in the water droplets.  Looks like, this is a very rare phenomenon. In all of the photos, the lights you see close to the horizon are from the island of Molokai which is next to the Maui island.


This is before the Moonbow started. The bright object is Jupiter which is in the constellation Taurus.
The bright star to the left of Jupiter is Aldebaran (Taurus).
The small cluster of stars below and right of Jupiter is Pleiades.
The pentagon shaped constellation at the center top is Auriga.
Below Auriga, constellation Perseus is partially visible.
The V shaped stars to the left of Jupiter are part of the constellation Taurus.
The secondary Moonbow is very lightly visible above the bright primary Moonbow.
The clouds blocked the stars. Palm trees in the foreground.


The universe is an intelligent and brilliant entertainer. Every day/night something mystical and magical is going on up in the sky. All it takes is a little passion and interest to enjoy these free shows :)) There are more chances of you seeing a Moonbow if you are in Hawaii or in UK (where it rains almost everyday and there is a high probability of raining around the full moon day).

No wonder that the car registration plates in Hawaii  have a rainbow :))
In addition to all the other well known natural wonders of Hawaii, enjoying the Moonbow is yet another reason to visit Hawaii again and again and again :))

10 comments:

  1. yeah....when can we go again?????? :)

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    1. ...right after I finish unpacking my suitcase ;)

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  2. Awesome, Thanks for the cool visual treat!!!

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  3. இந்த நிலா வட்ட ஒளிக்கு ஜ்யோத்ஸ்னா என்று பெயர்.

    சின்ன வயசுல இந்த வட்டத்தைப் பார்த்து அம்புலிமாமா வீடு கட்டுறாரு ன்னு பசங்க சொன்னது ஞாபகத்துக்கு வருகின்றது.

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    1. Wow! What a beautiful name for a beautiful phenomenon :) ஜ்யோத்ஸ்னா is a chracter in one of Sujatha's novel - JK :))

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    2. @JP
      but...isn't that the circle we see around the moon??
      i remember it as ppl saying...நிலா குடை பிடிச்சிருக்கு

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    3. நம்மூரூ பெருசுங்க நிலா குடை பிடிச்சிருக்குன்னு சொல்லுவாங்க..

      அம்புலிமாமா வீடு கட்டுனார்னா ...

      அம்புலிமாமி குடை பிடிப்பாங்க!

      ( நிலா பெண் என்பதால் 'குடை பிடிப்பது' என்பதே சரி என்ற ஷீலாவின் வாதம்

      வெற்றி பெறுகின்றது )

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  4. Beautiful.... Thanks for sharing! The name Jyotsna was in my wish list, but did not know the meaning until now.

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