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sherone_13
True Blue Farmgirl
2460 Posts
Sherone
Evanston
WY
USA
2460 Posts |
 Posted - May 30 2013 : 10:34:37 AM
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According to AccuWeather.com meteorologists, a ray of sunlight passes through a raindrop, reflecting off the back of the drop at varying angles.
Along with this reflection is refraction of light that causes of a spectrum of colors-- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
Certain angles and "bending" reflect light better for refraction to occur, and the amount of light refraction corresponds to wavelength and color.
For example, blue light is always refracted at a deeper angle than red light. This is the reason blue is found at the inside of the bow and red on the very outside.
Nature's natural color spectrum always elicits the same pattern (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) when light is refracted, commonly known from the Roy G. Biv mnemonic.
While a primary rainbow is visible when light is reflected once off the back of a raindrop, a secondary and usually dimmer rainbow is spotted when light is reflected twice in a more complicated pattern.
The colors of the second rainbow are inverted, with blue on the outside and red moved to the inside. The second bow appears dimmer or cloudier because much more light is released from two reflections, and both bows cover a larger portion of the sky. It is rare and unlikely, but three or even four rainbows can be seen on occasion, but only if they are reflected off of the earthly objects
The best time to see a rainbow is in the early morning or late afternoon, when the sun is lower in the sky. When the sun is in a lower position, a higher bow can be seen. Rainbows are actually a full circle, but we only see the top bow because the bottom half is below the ground.
Many rain droplets of all different sizes, not just one, are responsible for this phenomena. Perhaps billions of water droplets and sunlight reflections make a rainbow visible to the human eye.
Sherone
Farmgirl Sister #1682
Thirty-One Independent Consultant
www.mythirtyone.com/233237
My Blog
www.annapearlsattic.blogspot.com
Women are angels. When someone breaks our wings, we just jump on our broomsticks and fly! We are flexible that way! |
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Double Rainbow
