Why are rainbows formed?

The reflection of sunlight through individual water droplets creates a rainbow.

The rainbow is a stunning and beautiful weather phenomenon caused by the refraction of light. For a rainbow to form, the sun must be near the horizon and there must be a lot of fog, mist, or rain in front of the sun. An observer positioned between the sun and the rainbow would see a 180-degree arc of colors that spans the visible spectrum from red to violet. In some cases, if conditions are right, double rainbows will form, with a pale rainbow in inverted colors above the main rainbow, and in other cases, a completely circular rainbow has been observed, usually from within a plane that flies over the Earth. .

A double rainbow can form when light is refracted twice.

Although rainbows have been observed, written about, and depicted in art for centuries, their cause was not understood until physics began to explore the properties of light. Essentially, the cause of a rainbow is the reflection of sunlight through individual water droplets. Light enters the water and is reflected from the opposite side of the waterfall, reflecting off the entry point. As the angle or refraction of light changes as it is reflected, it filters the light into different colors, which are arranged with red at the top and violet at the bottom, because red is the length of longest wave and the shortest violet.

Someone standing between a rainbow and the sun would see colors in the visible spectrum from red to violet.

When the double rainbow forms, the light is refracted twice, causing a weaker rainbow to be reflected onto the primary. Potentially, a triple rainbow could also form, although it is extraordinarily rare. As soon as the water dissipates enough or the sun moves, the rainbow will disappear as conditions are no longer ideal for refracting light through the droplets. It is also possible for a moonbow to form, although as humans have difficulty distinguishing colors in the dark, it often appears in shades of white and grey.

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There must be a lot of fog, mist, or rain in front of the sun for a rainbow to form.

Rainbow seekers should go out when the sun is near the horizon and there is heavy rain or when there is an active storm. If the observer turns his back to the sun and looks away from the sun, he can see the rainbow if conditions are right, with the apex of the arc located directly opposite the sun. In some cases, the light conditions are adequate for the formation of rainbows in the vicinity of an observer: in the opposite case, the rainbow will continue to appear to be fading away from the pursuer until it eventually disappears completely, because the observer actually passed by. for him .

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