Double Headlight Fogbows
January 02, 2006
Provided by: Michael Ellestad
Summary authors & editors: Michael Ellestad
On the evening of November 1 (2005), soon after fog began to rapidly form, I waited for the sky to darken and then started my car and turned on the hi-beams. The photo above shows the results -- impressive headlight fogbows! Both primary and secondary bows were visible, and inside the main bow are two colorful supernumerary bows. Unlike a rainbow which forms from large raindrops, a fogbow forms from light refracting and reflecting inside much smaller fog droplets. The resulting bow is typically white or nearly so. See also the Earth Science Picture of the Day for November 30, 2005.
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