i live in port angeles washington and i saw a moonbow/lunar rainbow last night at approximatly 3:30 a.m. i thought i was imaging it but the more i watched the more i realized what it was. the rain had just ended, the moon was about 3/4 full,the temp was about 40 degrees, and there was a perfect arc like a rainbow with graduating shades of gray. it was one of the most amazing things i have ever seen. how often do these moonbows occur?

-- lora (email)

In addition to the moonbows and many other photos, that site has at least two nice-looking simulation tools: one for passing light through ice crystals and one for droplets. The simulation outputs are very tastefully done. Consider this reproduction of a 1790 sky, down to fine details; the effects of crystal alignment/misalignment; reproduction of a rare effect caused by a choice reflection through an unusual crystal. In addition to the simulation output, the last link has some scripting so that a mouseover changes the photo to an enhanced and labeled version. These gorgeous data displays are all over the site.

Les Cowley has really made a nice thing here.

-- Rob Mahurin (email)

I saw a moonbow on the north shore of Kauai around 1 am in 2004. The moon had risen behind us as we were looking out at the ocean, and it provided just enough light to reveal a large white bow arcing between us & the water. One of the coolest natural events I've ever seen. The color white contains all the colors of the rainbow, and it would have been just another rainbow (right!) in daylight, so lucky us.

-- flatland (email)