View larger. | Photo by Patty Singer, taken just outside Joshua Tree National Park in southern California.
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 (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah 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. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. 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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