The Science and Beauty of Rainbows
TLDR Rainbows are created when white sunlight hits a prism or raindrop, slowing down, bending, and spreading out into its component wavelengths. They can have different numbers of colors and can even form a full circle depending on perspective and location.
Timestamped Summary
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Rainbows have inspired fairy tales, songs, and legends throughout history, and even as adults, they continue to astound and delight us.
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The interpretation of the rainbow as having seven colors is a Newtonian invention, but historically there have been different ideas about the number and composition of colors in a rainbow, with some arguing that there are actually six colors.
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When white visible sunlight hits a prism or raindrop, it slows down, bends, and spreads out into its component wavelengths, creating a spectrum of colors known as a rainbow.
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To see a rainbow, the sun must be behind you, there must be moisture in front of you, and the sun's rays must be shining at 42 degrees of the anti solar point.
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Double rainbows occur when there is a dark band between the two rainbows, which is caused by the light reflecting away from the viewer.
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Double rainbows occur when the second refraction of light is reversed, with the red on the bottom, and triple and quad rainbows are rare but can be seen if the primary rainbow is sharp and the raindrops reinforce each other.
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A real rainbow can be a full circle depending on your perspective and location, and pilots can often see full circle rainbows from above.
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When looking at a rainbow, the most visible color is red, making up 38 percent of the rainbow, followed by green at 15 percent and blue at 11 percent.
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