July 31, 2025 Moonbow and Mine

Absolutely remarkable! I caught a brief and somewhat spooky moonbow last night. This is my 6th moonbow that I’ve ever seen, and the second moonbow this month! The last moonbow was on July 10 during the Thunder moon. The orange glow behind the mountain is artificial light illuminating Colorado’s largest operating coal mine just a few miles upvalley. It also looks eerily like there is a face in the clouds watching on. Two eyes and a nose.

This moonbow was different for two reasons:

Every moonbow up to now had been cast by a full or nearly full moon. Tonight’s moonbow was from a crescent moon, a day before 1st quarter phase.

Also, each previous moonbow was observed in the early morning hours, while this one was in the evening at around 10:10 pm local mountain time.

Nikon D750, Sigma 14mm lens, iso3200, 15 second exposure, f2.8.