'Moonbow' photographed over Yorkshire

  • Published
MoonbowImage source, Ben Gwynne
Image caption,
Moonbows are fairly rare and are made by moonlight rather than sunlight

A rare lunar rainbow - or moonbow - has been photographed in the skies over northern England.

Ben Gwynne captured the sight on the moors above Skipton, North Yorkshire at about 19:40 GMT.

Lunar rainbows are formed when moonlight, rather than direct sunlight, is refracted by moisture in the atmosphere.

On Sunday, a Hunter's Moon - also known as a blood moon - lit up skies over the UK.

If you have a picture of the Hunter's moon you'd like to share, email us at england@bbc.co.uk, post it on Facebook or tweet it to @BBCEngland

Mr Gwynne had stopped to take some photos of the supermoon when he caught sight of the rare moonbow.

"We'd gone into the Dales to take pictures and stopped on the way back to photograph the moon over some trees," he said.

"I'd never seen one before and getting to photograph it was amazing."

UK's natural wonder

Image source, SWNS/Johnny Simpson
  • Moonbows appear in areas with high rainfall or in the mist around waterfalls.
  • They often look white to the naked eye, but long-exposure photographs will capture their colours.

According to National Geographic, the hunter's supermoon is the first of three giant moons that we will see over the next few months.

The next full moon on 14 November will also be the largest full moon in the 21st century so far.

Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
This image was taken as a plane came into land at Heathrow on Sunday
Image source, Weather Watchers
Image caption,
The light thrown out by the moon was captured by Shelley on the BBC Weather Watchers page
Image source, PA
Image caption,
The moon was the first of three giant moons to be seen over the next few months