Ghostly Moon 'Fog Bow' Glows Over Finland Lake (Photo)

The ethereal light of a lunar fog bow made of moonlight and fog glows over a Finland lake in this beautiful night sky photo.

Finnish photographer Thomas Kast took this stunning shot on a cold, foggy night around 1 a.m. local time on Aug. 25, from Yli-Ii, Finland.

Similar to a rainbow, tiny water droplets that cause fog reflect light. Lunar fog bows typically appear white because sunlight reflected from the moon is weak. Some photographers have also captured so-called "moonbows," which are similar to rainbows in that they do include colors.

The lunar fog bows 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 water drops in rainbows, according to NASA.

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Nina Sen is a freelance writer and producer who covered night sky photography and astronomy for Space.com. She began writing and producing content for Space.com in 2011 with a focus on story and image production, as well as amazing space photos captured by NASA telescopes and other missions. Her work also includes coverage of amazing images by astrophotographers that showcase the night sky's beauty.