Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Is it possible for there to be rainbows in the clouds?
There is a very rare rainbow called a fire rainbow, but has so many circumstances that it is very rare. It is a beauty of nature itself, but the likability of seeing one in your lifetime is minuscule, unless you live on the Idaho/Washington border. This phenomenon has a short lifespan of a bout an hour and will only occur so very rarely.
The weather for a fire rainbow must be in a very specific arrangement. Due to the fact that this rainbow is in the atmosphere, the clouds must be cirrus, or clouds in a thin and wispy format, the phenomenon must be at least 20,000 feet in the air, with a precise amount of ice crystals, and the sun must hit the clouds at a specific angle, try 58 degrees above the horizon.
This fire rainbow, scientifically known as a circumhorizon arc, works as all rainbows-through refraction. As a halo works, it reflects off of hexagonal ice crystals to produce this optical illusion as it separates and refracts. When the weather permits all of the requirements at the perfect time of day, you might be able to catch a fire rainbow!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Are there rainbows on the Moon?
As far as we can tell, no. There is no source of "liquid". Although it is to be believed that there possibly is rainbows on one of Saturn's 62 moons, Titan, but you might need infared goggles to see such, the liquid there is methane. There are also "moonbows", or lunar rainbows, that are produced by light refracted off of the Moon's surface instead of the Sun's. Because the Moon is so much less brighter than the Sun, moonbows are very faint, and like rainbows are on the opposite side of the Moon.
Moonbows are truly white, and are very difficult for the human eye to see, yet can be captured by long exposure photography. In order for this to occur the Moon must be very close to a full moon stage, have a high amount of precipitaion (this occurs most often in waterfalls, for the weather is not very permitting), and it should be very dark. It is difficult to meet all of this criteria in one location to view one of these miraculous "bows" of nature, for it is very rare.
There are also halos that can appear around the moon. They simply look like a ring of light around the Moon, but are oftenly mistaken for moonbows. Unlike moonbows, the 22 degree halo that forms around the Moon is created by refraction of tiny ice crystal, and is in the sky. The colors of this halo consist of a red outer ring and a light on the inner side. Halos can also form near the Sun, in the sky, and even around lighted objects on Earth when it is cold and there are ice crystals in the air.
How are rainbows affected by weather?
In order to see a rainbow it must by raining in some place and sunny in another, because of this aspect all rainbows will appear opposite of the sunshine. A rainbow is a phenomenon created when the Sun shines upon droplets of moisture in the sky. It takes the form of a colorful arc. The colors and forms of rainbows all depend on the weather, time of day, and the location of you.
For instance a "double rainbow" occurs a second reflection off of the first rainbow. The colors of the outside rainbow are the inverse, or opposite, of the inner rainbow. A double rainbow phenomenom is caused when light is refracted twice in each droplet. Light can be refracted three or even four times in a droplet, creating even more rainbows, though this is very rare.
Another rainbow phenomenon is a supernumerary rainbow. This rainbow consists of pastel colors on the inner rainbow, and very rarely secondary rainbow, placed in an unusual arrangement. There is no real geometric explation for this, but it is created by interference of other light rays.
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