• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

The Real End Of A Rainbow?

Z

zardozzz

Devoted Cultist
Joined
Apr 24, 2003
Messages
197
I have been searching the interweb for the end of the rainbow stories. Many folk appear to have found a rainbows end going into the ground, even though it is supoosedly impossible. Here is one pic that shows a rainbow going into a field. What do others think, and do you know of any more photo's. Or even better have you any experience of this ?
http://photos1.blogger.com/img/223/1402/640/rainbow wide.jpg
 
For some reason I couldn't see that picture, don't know why.

However I did see a home video a friend took whilst on holiday in Scotland in which they managed to capture the "end" of a rainbow. They were driving at the time so the filming was a bit wobbly, but you could quite clearly see the rainbow's end kind of fade out over the top of a large field. It didn't go all the way to the ground, just seemed to fade away some height above the it. Couldn't say exactly how high, but low enough that you could see the field through it.
 
I hate to poor cold water on this because i love rainbows myself but even if you can see where the rainbow ends in a field you can never get to it. As you would move closer to it, it would move away. For a rainbow to occur the sun has to be at or below a certain angle in the sky. Also if you could see the whole in the rainbow it would not in fact be an arch shape but a full circle.
 
Feen5 said:
I hate to poor cold water on this because i love rainbows myself but even if you can see where the rainbow ends in a field you can never get to it. As you would move closer to it, it would move away. For a rainbow to occur the sun has to be at or below a certain angle in the sky. Also if you could see the whole in the rainbow it would not in fact be an arch shape but a full circle.
Click to expand...

I read something on the interweb where a guy and his wife found a rainbow that ended in the middle of the road they were on, they drove right through it and lstopped and looked back and saw it behind them! ?
 
I read something on the interweb where a guy and his wife found a rainbow that ended in the middle of the road they were on, they drove right through it and lstopped and looked back and saw it behind them! ?
Click to expand...

Its wishful thinking on that man and his wifes behalf i'm afraid. Its a simple matter of physics and optics. The rainbow depends not only on the raindrops and sunlight but also on the observer themselves (in fact it could be said that even if a group of people are looking at a rainbow they are each looking at a different one). If you google rainbow you will get any number of sites which will explain the physics much better than i can.
 
feen5 said:
Its wishful thinking on that man and his wifes behalf i'm afraid. Its a simple matter of physics and optics. The rainbow depends not only on the raindrops and sunlight but also on the observer themselves (in fact it could be said that even if a group of people are looking at a rainbow they are each looking at a different one). If you google rainbow you will get any number of sites which will explain the physics much better than i can.
Click to expand...

Normally yes. but it is Vanity indeed to think that there is not some or other natural happening that causes this rare phenomena, that physics does not yet know of due to its extreme rareness. Indeed this is in the same boat as UFO and aliens, in that respectable scientists would not even deign to investigate it, through fear of being labled a nutter or worse 'frivolous'

NB, i have noticed that several of these cases seem to have the rainbow end in a lake, where they can walk around it. Maybe this water link is a clue to its cause ?
 
Let me just make this clear now - I am not a science person.

Ok, so my question is: if each person is seeing a different rainbow as it were, and seeing the rainbow is dependent on the position of the observer, does that mean that a rainbow can only be seen from one side?
 
Got these answers from a rainbow website.

Taken from Humphreys (Physics of the Air, p. 478) discusses several "popular" questions about the rainbow:

"What is the rainbow's distance?"
It is nearby or far away, according to where the raindrops are, extending from the closest to the farthest illuminated drops along the elements of the rainbow cone.

Why is the rainbow so frequently seen during summer and so seldom during winter?"
To see a rainbow, one has to have rain and sunshine. In the winter, water droplets freeze into ice particles that do not produce a rainbow but scatter light in other very interesting patterns.

"Why are rainbows so rarely seen at noon?"
Remember that the center of the rainbow's circle is opposite the sun so that it is as far below the level of the observer as the sun is above it.

"Do two people ever see the same rainbow?"
Humphreys points out that "since the rainbow is a special distribution of colors (produced in a particular way) with reference to a definite point - the eye of the observer - and as no single distribution can be the same for two separate points, it follows that two observers do not, and cannot, see the same rainbow." In fact, each eye sees its own rainbow!!
Of course, a camera lens will record an image of a rainbow which can then be seen my many people! (thanks to Tom and Rachel Ludovise for pointing this out!)

"Can the same rainbow be seen by reflection as seen directly?"
On the basis of the arguments given in the preceding question, bows appropriate for two different points are produced by different drops; hence, a bow seen by reflection is not the same as the one seen directly".

To answer your question i think that yes indeed the rainbow cannot be seen from both side because the rainbow depends on the position of the observer so that when the rainbow is viewed at one position and then the couple believed they passed through it and saw it on the other side they were in fact viewing 2 seperate rainbows. Now that doesn't mean that there were two seperate rainbows it just means that the observers position had changed. So they might believe that they had passed through the rainbow but in fact they had only changed the position they were viewing the sunlight hitting the raindrops.
And Zardozzz yes i know there maybe other strange natural phenomena that could could cause rainbows but to say that rainbows are not studied by respectable scientists is wrong. Issac Newton himself founded the science of optics back in the 17th centuary before his work on gravity and every respectable meteorologist in the world would be able to explain rainbows in terms of their maths and physics. I'm all for weird phenomena but sometimes even when a wonderful sight can be explained it doesn't make it any the less fantastic.
 
A rainbow happens when light from the sun reflects back at you from water droplets suspended in the air (such as raindrops, or spray from a garden hose ). Light enters each raindrop and reflects off the far surface and exits approximately in the opposite direction from the way it came in. Diffraction causes the light to be broken up into its component colors as it leaves the raindrop, much as happens with a prism. Thus a rainbow always appears in the opposite direction from the sun, from your point of view, just like your shadow does. In fact the arc of the rainbow is always a segment of a circle that is centered on the shadow of your head, from your point of view.

If it were really true that a man and his wife drove through a rainbow and looked back at it, then whatever was going on, it wasn't a rainbow. I'd have to see some pretty solid evidence for that one.

Ok, so my question is: if each person is seeing a different rainbow as it were, and seeing the rainbow is dependent on the position of the observer, does that mean that a rainbow can only be seen from one side?
Click to expand...
A rainbow can only be seen in a certain direction, i.e. opposite the sun. Each person sees it as being in a somewhat different position. In reality a rainbow doesnt really have "sides".

Once when my kids were young - 3 and 5 years old - we saw a particularly bright rainbow, and the setting was such that it appeared to sit with its ends touching the ground in a nearby field. It was a startlingly clear illusion. The kids insisted on running to go see it up close, so I humored them and we ran across the field for a good 15 minutes. The rainbow of course appeared to receed steadily into the distance away from us.
 
I heard at the end of a rainbow is always a pot of gold. U guys think its true?
 
Rainbows are centred on the shadow of your head, so no way can you drive through one - the rainbow will simply move along with you, until you drive out of the rain and it disappears!

If you are on the bows of a ship and can position yourself so that the shadow of your head is in the spray from the bow wave, you can sometimes see a full circle of rainbow. If you are on a high hill looking down into a valley where it's raining, you may well see more than a semi-circle of rainbow (especially if the sun is low).


Oddly enough, I saw something related but strange earlier this week. I was in town and heard a jet fly over, so I looked up just in time to get a glimpse of it. But also, almost directly overhead, there was a bright arch of 'rainbow'. At the time I thought it was probably due to ice crystals or something, as a normal rainbow could not be in that position.

But now I wonder if it was a real rainbow formed not by the direct rays of the sun, but by the rays of the sun reflected off the sea to the south of the town. (I have seen pictures of such things.) If so, the rainbow's centre would be where the image of the sun in the sea would have cast my shadow had I been standing at the water's edge.

Sadly, I didn't have my camera on me right then, although I do normally carry one.
 
I absolutely think this is true. I think it's a question of logical reasoning: If you can position yourself at the the end of a rainbow, then it follows that the laws of physics and all the usual constraints of life, the universe, and everything no longer apply to you. Therefore, unlimited wealth and happiness must be yours for the taking.
 
I thought the key to the pot o' leprachaun gold was that if you see the 'end' of the rainbow, it will appear to move away from you as you try to move towards it. i.e. the little people are playing a trick on you.
 
Interestingly, with regards to a rainbow being centred on your shadow, a related and occasionally scary phenomenon can happen in certain conditions.

Wandering through the clouds on a misty mountain, you may suddenly realised you are being followed by a dark, shadowy figure in the fog:

http://www.giuthas.plus.com/gallery/02E016_2.html

This is the glockenspectre, and is caused by your own shadow being cast on the mist. You'll notice in the photograph that there is a faint rainbow around the spectre as well.

This phenomenon is also easy to see when you're in a plane and the plane's shadow is cast on the clouds:

http://www.extrospection.com/archives/2 ... inbow.html
 
rynner said:
Rainbows are centred on the shadow of your head, so no way can you drive through one - the rainbow will simply move along with you, until you drive out of the rain and it disappears!
Click to expand...

While I of course agree completely with the explanations posted by rynner and others, the second link provided by Fats Tuesday yields this interesting story: -

I not only saw a circular rainbow, but flew thru it. While stationed in Panama in the early 1970's I was in a helicopter flying from one side of the isthmus to the other. We were following the water way, and a rainshower had just passed thru the area. I looked thru the side doors looking forward and saw a brillintly clear full circle rainbow. As we continuied to fly, we passed thru the circle, and of course, as the angles changed, the rainbow disappeared, but I have a distinct memory of looking up and seeing the rainbow begin to pass over us. My great regret is that of all days I decided not to carry my camera, guess when! Just thought I would share.
Click to expand...
 
In the helicopter story, he mentions they were "following the waterway" which gives me an idea of one possible explantation of what he saw.

If the waterway in question is the Panama Canal, the water may have been very calm. Could he have looked up and seen part of a reflected rainbow, caused by the sun's reflection in the water?

I've tried to illustrate in this rubbish diagram, here:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/494 ... 9334ThAvvk

Also, another factor which could give the illusion of a rainbow getting closer is droplet size. If the rainbow is caused by fine droplets, like the mist-induced glockenspectre, the colours appear more dispersed and the band of the rainbow is wider than in a rainbow caused by large droplets. If the droplet size changes as you move, it's just possible that the conditions could make the rainbow itself appear to be moving closer.
 
Just a quick thought about passing under rainbows. I remember driving down a road in Florida which had crop sprinklers spraying very fine droplets which were flying over the road. I distinctly remember that each sprinkler had it's own rainbow visible in the spray and it did look as if you were driving under the rainbows as you went through each arc.

I was a flamborough Head yestrday and managed to snap these pictures of what appears to be the end of not just one, but two rainbows. No doubt if I had decided to jump in the icy water I would have found two very cold and wet pots of gold to enjoy before I died of hypothermia.
rainbow.jpg

rainbow1.jpg
 
Nice pics!

They show how the colours of the secondary rainbow are reversed compared to the primary.

Also how the sky is slightly darker between the two bows than elsewhere
(but I forget the explanation for this!)
 
Also, another factor which could give the illusion of a rainbow getting closer is droplet size. If the rainbow is caused by fine droplets, like the mist-induced glockenspectre, the colours appear more dispersed and the band of the rainbow is wider than in a rainbow caused by large droplets. If the droplet size changes as you move, it's just possible that the conditions could make the rainbow itself appear to be moving closer.
Click to expand...

Interesting, as I recently had the sensation of driving through the bottom of a rainbow. This was at high speed on the M25, and it definitely felt like I passed through the base of it (it appeared to arc off to the left off of the motorway, and seemed to be about the width of two carriageways) The rainbow wasn't fixed on a certain point in the road. Whilst I was doing 70 (naturally, officer) I only approached it slowly. So I reckon it must have been doing about 60. ;)

Maybe as the weather was clearing up and cars were picking up speed the spray was getting finer?
 
Yeah, nice double rainbow pics mindalia!
Also how the sky is slightly darker between the two bows than elsewhere
(but I forget the explanation for this!)
Click to expand...
I read that the sky can appear darker outside the primary rainbow because the spectrum keeps going beyond visible light frequencies and there's an "infrared rainbow" in that position. Not sure if that makes sense, exactly... It may have been in FTMB, a posting about "black rainbows"?

I wonder what's going on with all the posts about people having the sensation of passing through the center or the base of a rainbow. I dont see how droplet size could affect the apparent position or width of a rainbow - the angles at which the light refracts are fixed regardless of droplet size. Dunno.

Maybe it's one's proximity to the cloud of droplets that creates this illusion. When I make a rainbow with my garden hose, it looks to be small and located just a few feet away because I can see other other nearby objects behind it. When I see one caused by distant vapour clouds it appears to be far away in the sky. So maybe if my car or plane is moving towards and then through the vapour, the rainbow appears to come closer because of the relative apparent motion of other objects
 
Just wanted to post this old pic I took about two years ago on a camera phone. It's not the end of a rainbow but it was one of the most beautiful I had ever seen.
Rainbow.jpg
 
IamSundog said:
Yeah, nice double rainbow pics mindalia!
Also how the sky is slightly darker between the two bows than elsewhere
(but I forget the explanation for this!)
Click to expand...
I read that the sky can appear darker outside the primary rainbow because the spectrum keeps going beyond visible light frequencies and there's an "infrared rainbow" in that position. Not sure if that makes sense, exactly... It may have been in FTMB, a posting about "black rainbows"?

I wonder what's going on with all the posts about people having the sensation of passing through the center or the base of a rainbow. I dont see how droplet size could affect the apparent position or width of a rainbow - the angles at which the light refracts are fixed regardless of droplet size. Dunno.

Maybe it's one's proximity to the cloud of droplets that creates this illusion. When I make a rainbow with my garden hose, it looks to be small and located just a few feet away because I can see other other nearby objects behind it. When I see one caused by distant vapour clouds it appears to be far away in the sky. So maybe if my car or plane is moving towards and then through the vapour, the rainbow appears to come closer because of the relative apparent motion of other objects
Click to expand...

There's a page that explains the droplet size effect here:

sundog.clara.co.uk/droplets/fogdrpsz.htm
Link is obsolete. The current link is:
https://atoptics.co.uk/droplets/fogdrpsz.htm
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I suppose that a rainbow with a full circle looks like this?

Embedded link is dead. No archived version found.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
A few weeks ago I was driving south on the NYS thruway at around 5 pm and was overtaken by a series of strong thunderstorms that came as they do there from west to east. As the storm was overhead with very heavy rain the sun was setting on the western edge of the clouds. Speeding along I realized that there were three rainbows to my left. Very pretty, and the effect of the heavy rain illuminated by sunlight was also lovely. About 20 miles down the road with the rain easing up and the sun at a very acute angle I glanced to my left to the concrete barrier separating the two multi-lane directions and I saw that there were again three rainbows, and that the ends were on my side of the barrier. I could see the concrete through the rainbow light bands. I was at the end of the rainbow. This effect lasted a good five minutes, or as long as the rainbows lasted. Unfortunately no gold coins appeared. I didn't think this was possible, that rainbows were a visual efffect that changed as I moved and that always seemed to be pretty far away. Very astounding to be seeing this.
 
I had a somewhat similar experience involving a close-up encounter with a rainbow.

It was 1975 in northern Minnesota, and I was standing outside a former schoolhouse building in which I was living that summer. It was mid-afternoon.

A remarkably well-defined and very dark squall line was moving in directly from the west across the mildly rolling landscape. It appeared as a wall of heavy rain extending to the northern and southern horizons. Its crisply-demarcated leading edge could be seen sliding across the fields toward me. When this rain-wall's leading edge reached my position it was as if a giant faucet had been opened. The downpour lasted only a few minutes, whereupon the similarly well-defined trailing edge of the squall passed - leaving me in the drenched post-rain landscape of its wake.

As the trailing edge passed over me and the rain suddenly stopped I looked up at the rain-wall from only a few yards' distance.

There was a single large rainbow towering overhead on the face of the receding rain-wall. I looked to either side and saw this rainbow's ends intersecting the ground to either side (north / south of me) at a distance of only about 100 yards. As the squall line moved onward, receding across the fields, the rainbow didn't flicker or change shape at all. It seemed a rigid form, simply gliding into the distance until it passed out of sight to the east.
 
My mum - who is the most down-to-earth person imaginable - has always claimed a similar thing happened to her when she was in her teens (say, mid-1950s). She and a group of friends set off into the Kent countryside on their bikes with a picnic lunch, and - so she's always reported, without any deviation from the story - cycled into the end of a rainbow. They all stopped in astonishment. It was evidently wide enough to encompass half-a-dozen teenagers, and she says they were illuminated by a flickering or moving light which seemed to change colour - I presume (as per EnolaGaia's account above) as the rainbow band moved across and away from them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top