I say we bring back the lunar rainbows! Turn off the lights, dammit! :)
This is where I would normally attach a photo... except I was not alive in the mid-1860's to take one...now if only I could get my hands on the Time Traveling Delorian from Back To The Future...well then that changes everything! I totally would do that too. Travel back in time just to take a photo. LOL. That might violate my earlier argument against time travel though... due to the butterfly effect... dammit!
Niagara Falls is a great location for rainbows (or solar bows) as sunshine reflects off the mist from the Falls and delights our many visitors with a beautiful show of colours. Over one hundred years ago, Niagara Falls was also one of the best locations in the world to view night rainbows or lunar bows - a rainbow created by the light of the moon shining on the mist created by the Falls.
When lunar bows were last reported in the mid-1860s, the phenomenon was described as pale in comparison to the daytime rainbows, consisting of just three ghostly arches. They were best seen when the moon was full and high and the sky clear of clouds. One of the best locations to view this phenomenon was Luna Island (apparently so named because of the lunar bow) on the American side of the river. Luna Island is accessible via a pedestrian bridge from Goat Island and divides the American and Bridal Veil Falls.
A few references to early lunar bows are noteworthy. The Niagara Gazette, in describing the tightrope walk of Signor Farini, wrote “it was worthy of note that during the trip over and back a beautiful Lunar Bow hung over him, its end reaching the water, some fifty feet each side of his cable. He may claim it was as a bow of promise - as a happy augury of success?”
Another article written for the Niagara Gazette, July 16, 1856, stated “the Maid of the Mist will make trips in the evening when the weather is suitable, for the purpose of taking those who wish to view the Lunar Bow.”
Unfortunately, it is not likely a lunar bow will appear today, for a few different reasons. Firstly, the Falls have been illuminated each night since 1925. Since the 1950s, less water has been going over the Falls during the evenings, as much of Niagara’s water is diverted to produce electricity, creating less mist for the moonlight to reflect on. And finally, the night skies over Niagara are not as dark as years ago, due to the bright lights of the cities of Niagara Falls Ontario and New York.
Although lunar bows are no longer visible, rainbows make regular appearances throughout the year, in the late afternoon of sunny days.
