Most of us have marveled at a brightly colored rainbow after a passing shower. But have you ever experienced a fogbow? A fogbow is like a rainbow’s ghostly cousin. It's a pale, almost translucent arch that appears when sunlight shines through tiny droplets in fog.

While a normal rainbow shows off its vivid bands of color, a fogbow looks white or faintly pastel because the droplets inside fog are much smaller than raindrops. Those tiny droplets scatter light so finely that the colors overlap and blend, giving the bow its signature soft, milky look.

Fogbows usually form when the sun is low in the sky, and you're standing with your back to it, facing a bank of fog. Pilots, sailors, and early-morning hikers are some of the lucky few who spot them, because the conditions have to be just right: thin fog, bright light behind you, and enough contrast ahead to make the bow stand out.

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They’re often compared to “white rainbows,” which is a pretty good nickname. But despite their different appearance, fogbows are created by the same physics as rainbows: sunlight bending, bouncing, and spreading inside water droplets. It’s just that when the droplets are tiny, think smaller than the width of a human hair, the colors smear together. The end result is a beautifully subtle, otherworldly arc that quietly steals the show on a misty morning.

Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.