Comments on: Moonbow, Milky Way, meteor

By: Thierry Legault

Thierry Legault — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 08:13:04 +0000

It’s a 45-second exposure
The lens is a 14mm f/2.8 on Canon 5D mark II.

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:03:00 +0000

Sailor (8) said:

It is interesting how bright that moonbow is. Maybe a factor of the amount of spray in the waterfall. When I have seen them in the rain on a full moon, the colors have been more muted and subtle.

This is probably a result of the long exposure time. Note the length of the star trails. It’s gotta be at least a 5-minute exposure.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:18:58 +0000

Robert: I was kidding about the “chemtrail”, hence the

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 09:33:10 +0000

@ ^ Joseph G. Seconded by me.

Love this superluminous image. Cheers BA & Thierry Legault.

@14. Teacher Al : Agreed. I like the “moonbow” term – its poetic, descriptive and distinguishes it from normal “natural spectroscopes” ie. rainbows!

By: Joseph G

Joseph G — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 02:07:00 +0000

If you’ve read this blog before, then all I really need to tell you is that Thierry Legault took a picture.

Heh, well put! That is indeed all that needs to be said, and it’s a marked understatement as always. Not unlike saying “So yeah, Leonardo da Vinci painted a picture of some lady…”

His photos have been on this blog so many times I can’t even list them, but check out the Related Posts below, click the links, then click the links at the bottom of those posts (or you can use my search engine). It’s a journey that’ll widen your eyes.

You might also point out the tags at the very end of the post, including one under Mr. Legault’s name (just click it). That’d probably be the quickest way for folks to see all BA posts with his images…

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:05:03 +0000

@sailor#8: I suspect the apparently muted color is a matter of perception. You’re looking at a photograph which has collected photons for an extended period vs. your eye’s receptors collecting such a low number of photons that the color receptors aren’t working at their best.

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:11:57 +0000

Isn’t a moonbow the thing that the goddess Selene used for hunting? (Kidding.)

Ziggy (@10) is right. The nomeclature is inconsistent. It’s a lot like science fiction authors using the term “astrogator” in place of “navigator”, even though the latter refers to ships, not seas. By comparison, an astrogator would be someone that determines where to move a star.

Likewise a moonbow would be a differential refraction of white light caused by the moon.

By: Thierry Legault

Thierry Legault — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:08:28 +0000

Thank you for your nice comments!

@Dan: yes it’s a meteor, I saw it visually and it was quite bright, fortunately it happened just during an exposure and in the right direction.

By: Teacher Al

Teacher Al — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:16:14 +0000

Oh, for gosh sakes, people. Moonbow is a really cool name. it trips off the lips like… something that trips easily off the lips. All this about consistency and prior use gets us nowhere as it’s not a “scientific” term and it’s just plain nifty. Geez.

By: Roberto

Roberto — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:07:39 +0000

Da da da da da da da da moonbow
Da da da da da da da da meteor
moonbow meteor, moonbow meteor
Milky Way Milky Way Milky Way meteor