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SearchMoonbow Over Dunanda Falls
ID# 50022 Click to enlarge |
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Description: A moonbow is a rarely seen natural phenomenon. It is not that uncommon, but a moonbow is so subtle we rarely notice it. Like any rainbow, two elements need to be in place at the same time for it to be observed. One is a bright light source behind the observer, and the other is a veil or cloud of water mist. The mist can be rainfall or spray from a waterfall or other wild disturbance in water. Dunanda Falls faces south on Boundary Creek and falls 150 feet off a lava cliff onto a jumble of large boulders creating a constant heavy mist which drifts around the base of the falls and blows downstream through a short canyon. I hiked in the dark a couple of miles up Boundary Creek to the base of the falls on the night of a full moon. The moon didn’t rise up over the east canyon wall until about 11 p.m., and when it did the moon in the clear sky was bright enough to create a moonbow visible to anyone who looked. To the naked eye it appeared as a shimmering blue arch bent across the base of the falls above the boulders. This exposure was a minute long, and the moonlight not only created the moonbow, it lit up the rocks. Stars tracks are visible above the falls in the black sky, and the film saw all the colors of the spectrum. Every print and book are signed by Tom Murphy |
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