Moon Causing Rainbow Reflection with Jupiter


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I was up really late because I was trying to photograph the comet that was up, but I couldn't find it. As I was packing up to leave, I saw the Moon and the rainbow through the clouds below it. I snapped several shots of it, and I think this is the most representative because it also has Jupiter (the bright point) to the upper right.

The rainbow is caused by very small water dropplets that are nearly perfect spheres. Because of this, they act as tiny lenses that refract the light, just the way the Sun can cause a rainbow around a light rain.

Technical Information
Object Full Moon Reflecting Rainbow Through Clouds with Jupiter in Upper Right
Common Name --
Date, Time, & Moon May 13, 2006 @ 3:00 AM; 100% Full Moon
Location SBO Telescope at CU Boulder
Optics 33 mm lens
Camera Canon Digital Rebel 350D XT
Exposure Details 5 seconds; ISO 100
Optical Correction No Dark- nor Flatframe-Correction
Camera Position N/A
Guiding None - Tripod Mounted
Processing Details None
Image Size Moon is approx. 30 arcmin in diameter
Magnitude Depth N/A
Notes None.