Rainbows aren’t actually arches at all

in #nature7 years ago

Rainbows are arches, right? Wrong!

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Prepare to have everything you thought you knew about these incredible things wiped out.

That’s because it turns out rainbows are actually huge colourful circles.

Completely ruling out any chance of a pot of gold at the end of one, a video shot by a crane driver in St Petersburg, Russia, has revealed rainbows have no finishing point.

The reason we all see them as arches is down to the curvature of the earth.

“The circle (or half-circle) results because there are a collection of suspended droplets in the atmosphere that are capable concentrating the dispersed light at angles of deviation of 40-42 degrees relative to the original path of light from the sun,” Mashable reported Physics Classroom as explaining.
“These droplets actually form a circular arc, with each droplet within the arc dispersing light and reflecting it back towards the observer.”

Rainbows are always a crowd-pleaser, whenever you see one – but lately they’ve become more popular than ever in fashion terms.

Alongside unicorns, they’ve soared to become one of this year’s must-have product designs.

It’s unlikely you’ll find a fully circular one featured on any t-shirts, bedding or wall art – but an Asda spokesperson told Mirror Online they’ve been the No1 searched item on their website this week.

The unicorn mug mentioned above is just one of the huge range of items on offer at Asda featuring the rainbow motif.

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