Have you ever seen a moonbow? Rare 'lunar rainbow' captured during Perseid meteor shower
THIS rare and stunning sight is a moonbow, captured at 2am with the sleeping landscape bathed in the light of a full moon.
The phenomenons, known as a lunar rainbows, are only visible in the dark and are caused by the light reflecting off a full moon towards earth during a heavy rain shower.
This one was shot over Dartmoor in Devon by professional photographer John Baker as he went to take pictures of a Perseid meteor shower.
His amazing series of pictures were taken with a fisheye lens over a period of around five minutes.
Unlike a rainbow which forms when sunlight refracts off water particles, moonbows are created by reflected moonlight and have a fainter and more diffused colour.
It's a very rare phenomenon which is caused when there is a very bright moon which reflects light back and creates a night time rainbow
John, 54, of Teignmouth, Devon, said: "It's a very rare phenomenon which is caused when there is a very bright moon which reflects light back and creates a night time rainbow.
"I went out to take pictures of the perseid meteor shower, which is the biggest of the year, combined with the super moon.
"While I was taking pictures of the meteor, I saw this hazy half moon dome in one of the pictures then when I looked back at the series I saw it was a rainbow.
"I went home and looked up what it could be and discovered it was a moonbow - it was totally opportunistic.
"The pictures were taken at around 2:10am over five minutes before it faded out."
John also managed to take some shots of the International Space Station passing as well as small meteor.