Mistbows are also known by the name of fogbows,white rainbows or colorless rainbows,but lots of people like to call them “ghost rainbows” due to their somewhat eerie appearance. Here’s a bit more about how these color-free cousins of rainbows form.
The biggest part has to do with the size of the water droplets that the sun is shining through. With regular rainbows,larger water droplets act like prisms and allow us to see gorgeous shades of color. ROYGBIV,we are talkin’ to you!
However,when it comes to fog,the suspended water droplets are too small to reflect and refract sunlight like regular-sized raindrops,so these teeny-tiny droplets don’t separate the colors of light the same way bigger drops do.
Basically,you have to step back and think about how the sunlight interacts with the fog or mist. For the most part,the light is diffracted from the tiny water droplets that clash together into a haze of white and gray. Hence that ghostly appearance!
Lastly,in the event you wanted to go hunting for mistbows,you’d need the sun behind you and fog in front of you and a bit of luck. After all,location is everything when it comes to viewing atmospheric optics! If you happen find one,please share a picture with us even though it’ll make some of our meteorologists melt with envy- yours truly included!
