Full Moon Fogbow
May 09, 2005
Provided by: Jens Hackman
Summary authors & editors: Jens Hackman; Jim Foster
The above photo showing a dim but nonetheless delightful Moon fogbow was taken on the night of March 25, 2005 from near Bad Mergentheim, close to the border to Bavaria in southern Germany. The Moon was almost full on this early spring evening and was therefore sufficiently bright to produce this faint bow. Though it was quite foggy, the Moon's light shone through, and the fog droplets acted like raindrops -- refracting and then reflecting light rays. When this picture was snapped, the Moon's altitude was approximately 30°. Like the Sun, the Moon must be no more than about 43 degrees above the horizon in order for the bow phenomenon to be visible.
Photo details: t= 25 sec; f= 18 mm; f/3.5 at ISO speed 200, taken 21:10 Universal Time (UT) or 3.5 hours after sunset.
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