Rainbows are one of the most beautiful phenomenon that nature has to offer. From an early age, seeing a rainbow would make our gloomy days into cheerful ones. Rainbows are a symbol of hope, which guides us to follow our heart’s desire and purpose. Rainbows also play a big role in various mythologies. They’ve been known to act as a bridge to connect our realm with the realm of Gods in Norse mythology. Rainbows are even mentioned in Genesis 9; it is mentioned in the story of Noah as a sign of God’s promise to never destroy all life on earth. The Irish have stories about Leprechauns hiding their gold at the end of a rainbow. Also, they’re sometimes used as a mode of transportation by those adorable Care Bears. While rainbows are not a rare sight, there are various rainbows only very few lucky people get to witness with their own eyes. Among them are the double rainbow, twinned rainbow, full-circle rainbow, etc. But there is one rainbow that has one of the rarest sightings.During a hike around Rannoch Moor, he came across this spectacular scenery. While skeptics may believe it to be digitally edited, this is in fact a real image. The phenomenon responsible for this splendid view is known as ‘fogbow’ or ‘white rainbow’. Like any other rainbows, fogbows are also caused by the refraction of sunlight through water droplets in the air; the only difference is that the water droplets associated with fogbows are small.
The photographer was dumbfounded after seeing the beautiful fogbow. It might have been simple science but it had created magnificent scenery. “Freshly fallen snow set the scene all around. It was just beyond magical and one of those days that you’ll remember for a long time to come,” the photographer expressed with sheer happiness.
Just like the sunlight reflects on the falling raindrops, which leads to the formation of the wonderful seven-color band, the water droplets hanging in the fog lead to the formation of this band. Since the droplets are smaller than that of the raindrops and lighter in color, it is given the name ‘ghost bow’.
“The fog itself is not confined to an arch. The fog is mostly transparent but relatively uniform,” NASA explained. “The fogbow shape is created by those drops with the best angle to divert sunlight to the observer.”
Before you get excited and start looking for a fogbow, you have to find the right spot. To find the spot, the observer should be standing in such a way that the sun is behind his head. Your line of sight would have to be focused towards the fog. One has to be careful while trying to look for a fogbow as its outer radius is slightly less than that of a rainbow. You could wind up missing it even though it’s in plain sight.
