Patty Singer in California captured this beautiful image on February 22, 2018. She wrote:
This was taken on Route 62 just a bit outside of Joshua Tree as we were headed back to the LA area. It was snowing very fine, but also a fine rain mist was falling. We saw this low rainbow off to the side towards the mountain and immediaty stopped on a side road to capture this.
By the way, Patty said she was told later this rainbow is called a mist bow, also known as a fog bow. Is it? No. We asked sky optics expert Les Cowley of the great website Atmospheric Optics who said:
I see a rainbow from smallish raindrops. A mist or fog bow is broader and almost white.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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