Have you ever seen...
By TheRealDawn
@dawnald (85137)
Shingle Springs, California
November 17, 2009 1:48pm CST
A rainbow after the sun has set. Here is a picture of one I saw last year in Arizona. I saw one this year on my way home too but didn't have the camera with me. Have you ever seen a rainbow after sunset? Did you know that such a thing even existed? Pretty cool, no?
5 people like this
17 responses
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
17 Nov 09
Beautiful!
You can tell that it was taken after the sun was below the horizon because the curve, as it meets the mountains is practically vertical.
I have seen a 'moonbow' once (very rare, since moonlight is hardly ever strong enough to make it visible, though you can often see a coloured halo and moondogs) but I have never seen a rainbow at sunset, even though I live in a very flat country!
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@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
17 Nov 09
I would love to see a moonbow as I have never heard of one before. It is not that lao that it seen around the moon at times is it?
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@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
18 Nov 09
No, Cynthiann. The halo is fairly common and you can see that more clearly because the light is only refracted once. A 'moonbow' is like a rainbow: the moon has to be at your back. You're more likely to see one in summer when the moon is lower in the sky or when you are standing on a hill top (with rain in the valley below). Like an ordinary rainbow, the shadow of your head is always at the exact centre of the circle or arc.
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@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
17 Nov 09
A moonbow, very interesting. We live on a hill and the moon does get pretty bright, so maybe I need to start looking for those when the moon is full and it has just rained. I bet that would be pretty incredible.
The two times I saw the sunset rainbow I was actually in pretty hilly country.
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
17 Nov 09
We get plenty of rainbows WHEN/if it rains, but I've never seen one after sunset.
Do you have dusk there? Our sun sets very quickly and we get almost no twilight or dusk. I'm wondering if an after sundown rainbow occurs when then is a short or a long dusk. I would imagine it would happen more in a short dusk, but you'd have to be watching for it, because it wouldn't be there for long.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
17 Nov 09
This was Arizona, so not familiar territory to me, but I recall that there was a bit of something resembling dusk.
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
18 Nov 09
I suppose "something resembling dusk" is more like we have here. We would have less than half an hour between daylight and dark. If that was the condition then, we might get them here too. I'll check next time (surely it WILL rain again?) we get rain in the afternoon.
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@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
18 Nov 09
I guess I'd have to time it, but I'd say we get at least half an hour.
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
17 Nov 09
Hi Dawn. No, I don't think I have. At least not here in California. It doesn't rain here, remember? 
And if there is no rain, then how the heck can there be a rainbow? 
It's very pretty though. If only we got rain out here where the "Happy Cows" are I'd be able to see a rainbow. *sigh*
Maybe one day...
And if there is no rain, then how the heck can there be a rainbow?
It's very pretty though. If only we got rain out here where the "Happy Cows" are I'd be able to see a rainbow. *sigh*
Maybe one day...
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
19 Nov 09
can't say i have..i did see a double rainbow in tucson though.
that was pretty..and rare:)
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@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
19 Nov 09
I've seen double rainbows once in a very long time, yep, very pretty!
@rosepedal64 (4188)
• United States
17 Nov 09
I have seen several after a storm or just a common rain, but have never seen one for no reason. I think that is pretty weid and special too. Oh I wish you would have had your camera with you so that you could have taken a pic of that one too.
From now on carry that camera with you....LOL
Keep Smiling.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
17 Nov 09
There had been a storm. The unique thing was that the sun had already set.
@rosepedal64 (4188)
• United States
17 Nov 09
WOW that is different..see you should have had your camera.
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@jillhill (37353)
• United States
17 Nov 09
I didn't know they existed.....with the absence of light it would be hard to figure out how there can be a rainbow! I did see a double rainbow one morning at work and one of the gals ran out with her camera phone and took a picture of it...that was cool!
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@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
17 Nov 09
I didn't know either until I saw this one. I suppose the sun's rays were still peeping over the hill higher up in the sky than we were at. I don't know...
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
18 Nov 09
[b]I never thought about it (surprising, as I'm an incurable skywatcher), but it makes sense, since even though we can't see the sun, because of the curvature of the Earth, it can still shine over the horizon & strike clouds for quite a while!
This picture is stunningly beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing it!
Maggiepie
"WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?"[/b]
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@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
17 Nov 09
I don't know that i ever have seen a rainbow at that time. They are pretty anytime u see them. Thanks for sharing.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
17 Nov 09
Yep they are, but this one was very unusual!
@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
17 Nov 09
No, I have never heard of this before. I bet that it was incredible. Did you get that tingly feeling from seeing something special?
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@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
17 Nov 09
Yep, it was pretty special. Didn't even know such a thing existed until I saw this!
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
17 Nov 09
hi dawnald that is really neat. I had never seen one after
the sun had set. that was a fantastic photo. I used to see
rainbows often when I was growing up in South Dakota but here
Southern Ca it just has not rained enough to make a rainbow
and that is so sad.
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@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
17 Nov 09
yeah, a rainbow down there is a special occasion!
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
17 Nov 09
We get a lot after the rain here and had a fantastic one last week as it was a perfect arc. My son made me stop the car to see it better as one end disappeared into the hills on the left and the other end disappeared into the mountains on the west. It was pretty amazing to actual see a full arc one like that. Way too big to be caught by a camera though.
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@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
17 Nov 09
We get a fair number too (despite rumors that it never rains in California), but this one was after the sunset, so quite unique.
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
18 Nov 09
Yes Dawn, rainbow is really a nice scenery. Here in our country, it’s a normal view for us. We always see and watch over rainbows.
