![]() It has so far been established that a rainbow is neither a ‘thing’ nor an ‘object’ and does not exist in any particular locale but is rather an ‘optical phenomenon’ that appears in the sky when sunlight and atmospheric conditions happen to be in the perspective of the observer. Sometimes due to double reflections and refractions of light, a secondary rainbow, which is distinctly larger and paler than the primary rainbow with the colors reversed (VIBGYOR) appear within the original arc. This optical reflection results in a colorful circular arc of ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) across the sky (Henderson, 2016) (Image 1). Therefore, as one sight into the sky, rays of light each concomitant with a particular color is perceived from the collection of the water droplets. ![]() In this part of the atmosphere, each suspended individual droplet of water acts as a tiny prism that not only refracts the light from the sun but also reflects it back to the eye of the observer. To view the rainbow, one need to face away from the sun and look above the ground into the region of the atmosphere covered with suspended water droplets after rain or with a light blanket of mist. This aspect explains why rainbows are only visible when the sun is hanging low in the sky, usually late in the afternoon – in which case it will be to the east of the observer – or seen early in the morning – in which case it will be seen to the west of the observer. It is caused by both the refraction and reflection of the sun’s rays by rain droplets suspended in the atmosphere (Williams, 2013, p. ![]() The rainbow appears as a bow or an arc-shaped spectrum of prismatic colors in the sky opposite the sun from the observer’s perspective, particularly after the rain. By far and large, the rainbow is one of nature’s most spectacular masterpieces and an excellent demonstration that sunlight is composed of a band of wavelengths each with a distinct color (Henderson, 2016).
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