A photographer captures the rare nighttime rainbow and the magical auroras at the same time in the starry sky.
The image of a double moon rainbow appearing simultaneously with the Northern Lights under the sparkling sky entered the lens of photographer Giuseppe Petricca on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, Space reported on December 12 .
Moon Rainbow, or night rainbows, are rainbows that occur as a result of moonlight, not sunlight. Lunar rainbows are very rare and appear paler than a normal rainbow.
“Amid the fast moving clouds and the rain that lasted for a few minutes, a magical moon rainbow appeared, when the nearly full moon emerged from the clouds,” describes Petricca.
Behind the rainbow is the arctic aurora emitting a pale blue light against the starry sky. The Arctic Aurora are bright bands of light because charged particles from the Sun interact with particles in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
In the middle of the image is a “Summer Triangle” star network consisting of three bright stars Vega, Deneb and Altair. Vega is the brightest star, located above the aurora. Deneb appears at the top of the image while Altair is under a rainbow, above a cloud.
“I can describe the scene at the time, but I think the photo will do better. It’s an unforgettable feeling,” he said.
