Moonbow over West Iceland

Thought that the Northern Lights were the only thing worth seeing in the winter sky in Iceland? Think again!

Last night, Víðir Björnsson caught this beautiful image of a ‘moonbow’ – a rainbow visible at night – over the West Iceland town of Stykkishólmur.

Normal rainbows are formed by direct sunlight refracting off moisture in the atmosphere. Moonbows are the same, except the light comes not directly from the sun, but reflected off the moon – hence the name.

Since the light is not as bright, the individual colours can be harder to distinguish and moonbows often appear white to the naked eye.