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Credit & Copyright: Bertrand Kulik
Explanation:
Why is this horizon so colorful?
Because, opposite the Sun, it is raining.
What is pictured above is actually just a
common rainbow.
It's uncommon appearance is caused by the Sun being unusually high in the sky during
the
rainbow's creation.
Since every
rainbow's center must be exactly
opposite the Sun,
a high Sun reflecting off of a distant rain will produce a
low rainbow
where only the very top is visible -- because the rest of the
rainbow is below the
horizon.
Furthermore, no two observers can see exactly the same
rainbow --
every person finds themselves exactly between the Sun and rainbow's center,
and every
observer sees
the colorful circular band precisely 42 degrees from rainbow's center.
The above image featuring the
Eiffel Tower was taken
in
Paris,
France last week.
Although the intermittent thunderstorms lasted for much of the day, the
horizon
rainbow lasted for only a few minutes.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: rainbow - horizon
Publications with words: rainbow - horizon
See also: