Fog Bow on a Foggy July Morning in Castine

Fog Bow Wadsworth Cove, Castine. ME, 7/12/12

When I saw the morning fog from my bedroom window, I had a feeling it could be a good day. I dressed, grabbed my camera and headed out to Castine's Wadsworth Cove, popularly known as "the back shore". My feeling proved correct. The light and the fog were beautiful and I knew there was a potential for a "fog bow". A fog bow is a phenomenon that I first experienced last year in the very same spot.

What is a fog bow and what causes it? Here's a brief explanation from Wikipedia:
"A fog bow is a similar phenomenon to a rainbow, however, as its name suggests, it appears as a bow in fog rather than rain. Because of the very small size of water droplets that cause fog—smaller than 0.05 millimeters (0.0020 in)—the fog bow has only very weak colors, with a red outer edge and bluish inner. In many cases when the droplets are very small, fog bows appear white, and are therefore sometimes called white rainbows. According to NASA: The fog bow's lack of colors is caused by the smaller water drops ... so small that the wavelength of light becomes important. Diffraction smears out colors that would be created by larger rainbow water drops."

Some of the other photos from this morning follow.

Fog Burning Off, Wadsworth Cove

Fog, Hatch Cove, Castine

Burning Off, Hatch Cove, Castine

Sun's Reflection, Hatch Cove, Castine

Rainbow Aura in Sun's Reflection, Hatch Cove, Castine

Swim Float, Wadsworth Cove, Castine

Morning Dew Web

When I got back to the house a sparklingly, dewed web caught my eye down by my garden. It was strung about 12 feet above the ground and was quite large in size. The tops of my bean poles can be seen on the right.

Here's a last look at today's phenomenal fog bow, also known as a "White Rainbow"

"White Rainbow"

Both last year and again today when I witnessed this beautiful sight there was someone on the beach that had not noticed it, until I pointed it out to them. The next time you see fog about to burn off, make sure you have the sun behind you and the fog in front of you and you just might get to see a white rainbow.