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Credit & Copyright: Michael C. Neff
(Neffworks Artography
Explanation:
What kind of rainbow is this?
In this case, no rain was involved -- what is pictured is actually a red
cloudbow.
The unusual sky arc was spotted last month during sunset in
Rehoboth Beach,
Delaware,
USA.
When the photographer realized that what he was seeing was extraordinary, he captured
it with the only camera available -- a cell phone.
Clouds are made of water droplets, and in a cloudbow a
cloud-droplet group
reflects back light from the bright Sun (or Moon) on the opposite side of the sky.
Similar phenomena include
fogbows and
airplane glories.
Here, the red
color was caused by atmospheric air preferentially scattering away blue light
-- which simultaneously makes most of the
sky appear blue.
A careful inspection reveals a
supernumery bow just
inside the outermost arc, a bow caused by
quantum
diffraction.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
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
Publications with words: rainbow
See also: