‘Moonbow’ phenomenon captured by bureau camera

Moonbowweb TBW Newsgroup
SPECIAL EVENT: The Bureau of Meteorology's Mount Gambier Airport camera captured a rare "moonbow" in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Moonbowweb TBW Newsgroup
SPECIAL EVENT: The Bureau of Meteorology’s Mount Gambier Airport camera captured a rare “moonbow” in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

LIMESTONE Coast residents who were awake early yesterday morning were treated to a rare weather event when a “moonbow” – or lunar rainbow – was visible.

The natural phenomenon was captured by a Bureau of Meteorology camera at Mount Gambier Airport at around 3am yesterday.

Just like a regular rainbow, a moonbow is formed by light reflecting through a droplet of water, except the light comes form the moon instead of the sun.

In addition, the moon must be at a low angle in the sky, be full or almost full and there must be water droplets present for the event to occur.

The event was also more unique than most moonbows with the full colour spectrum visible as opposed to the white light normally seen in such phenomenon.

Although a spectacular sight, the Limestone Coast is no stranger to midnight light shows this year after a large meteor passed over the region in May.

The moonbow comes after a period of wild weather continued well into spring, with more than 30mm of rain hitting the region in the first 10 days of this month.