What exactly are "moonbeams"?

Question

please don't just give me a definition, give me a specific example of perhaps where I could spot one

Answer 1

I live on the ocean, away from city lights. I love it when the sky is filled with clouds and only a few moonbeams make their way through the sky to dance across the water. It is magical.

Answer 2

The moon reflects the light from the sun onto the earth. This is called moonlight but I understand you, you are asking about a certain circumstance that is called moonbeams.

The reason they are romantic is their esoteric quality. The moon doesn't give off so much light that a moonbeam is obvious in most cases. First the sky has to be very clear, Next the moon has to be near full. Then you on earth has to be in a dark environment. With these in effect, and with an an obstruction like a tree you're under, then the moonlight will shine though the tree branches on you in streaks (beams), This is a moonbeam.

Another scenario is there are thick clouds in the night sky but the clouds are well defined and the spaces between the clouds are clear sky. The clouds travel across the sky, first a cloud is obstructing your view of the moon, then it moves along and the moon appears, not entirely as full moonlight, but partially as a beam of light as it's shining down at you between two clouds.

Answer 3

Moonbeams is a term that originated during the free love and drug use period in both the US and England in the late 60s and early 70s. The term referred to someone who was "tripping" on drugs and would shoot off to the moon on a moonbeam. At that time the moon was considered the farthest see able planet from the Earth. While high on your favorite concoction you would board a moonbeam and be sent to the moon and back. The back part of the tip ended once the "high" of the drug wore off.

Answer 4

A great example of a moonbeam is standing on the boardwalk looking out on the ocean (during a full moon) and seeing the moonlight beaming off the water, Its beautiful!!!

Answer 5

So you will need the moon to be shining - and not too cloudy.

Though if there are some clouds, watch what happens as a cloud moves across the moon. As the moon emerges, things get caught in its light - in the moonbeams.

Answer 6

rays of light from the moon, just like sun beams are rays of light from the sun. The term beam gets thrown in I guess because something like trees or blinds in the windows breaks up the light into bands, whether sun or moon...bands equal beams...
"Carry moon beams home in a jar
And be better off than you are...
Or would you rather be a fish?
A fish is an animal that swims in a brook...
He can't write his name or read a book.."
Have you ever heard that song? Probably not, huh? Hope we helped you with the moonbeam thing.

Answer 7

Def. a ray of moonlight

You're more likely to see a moonbeam in the country. In the city there is a lot of manufactured light, even at night. In the country, in a field, far from a road or a city, your eyes become much more sensitive, and the night seems much brighter than it would otherwise.

Light shines on reflected particles. If there is dust in the air in the daytime, and light streams through it, you will see a sunbeam. (A photographer's trick to make a sunbeam is to toss dust in the air, and then catch a photo of the light shining through the dust.) The same for night, and a moonbeam. When you see a moonbeam in nature, it will commonly be shining between the branches of a tree, or catch the light of a cloud, or between pickets of a fence. And it is a thing of subtlety. Don't expect anything like a flashlight or headlight.

Below, I've found a few pictures. Not great but better than nothing. It's hard to take a picture of a moonbeam. Camera's need light.

This one is actually penguins in moonlight:
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~sallans/southafrica/Boulders%20Beach/bouldersbeachgallery/Moonlight%20Pair%20Adjusted.jpg

http://www.enviroclare.org/scenic/moonlight.jpg
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.pbase.com/u48/wangi/small/36932873.P1090625small.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pbase.com/wangi/night&h=160&w=120&sz=3&hl=en&start=57&um=1&tbnid=x5QSH-MxR9pyYM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=74&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtree%2Bmoonbeam%2Bnight%26start%3D40%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.pbase.com/u49/carrhighlander/small/36575872.NightTrees1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pbase.com/carrhighlander/photoshop&h=160&w=120&sz=6&hl=en&start=58&um=1&tbnid=g-FvEoRjTkkl2M:&tbnh=98&tbnw=74&prev=/images%3Fq%3DNIGHT%2BTREES%26start%3D40%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

Answer 8

Moonbeams are simply 'the light of the moon', which travels until it reaches something like ummm... Earth! Somenights out at sea they are really amazing.

Answer 9

I've been browsing the internet more than 2 hours today looking for answer to the same question, but I haven't found any interesting debate like this. It's pretty worth enough for me.

Answer 10

its like a beam of light reflected to the earth by the moon at night