A colorful rainbow always attracts attention and causes delight. And the Irish believed that you can find gold in the place where a multi-colored rocker touched the ground.
Not everyone knows that a rainbow represents a circle. Its center lies on a straight line that passes from the Sun through the observer. The horizon interferes with seeing an optical phenomenon completely to a person standing on the ground. The higher the observer will be, the greater part of the circle will be visible. Therefore, from the plane you can see the play of light in full format.
Rainbow shape
The study of the optical phenomenon involved many scientists. As far back as the 17th century, the famous mathematician and philosopher R. Descartes conducted experiments. To do this, he filled a ball of glass with water and watched the reflection of a sunbeam passing through the water. This was the explanation of the emerging play of light.
A multi-colored rocker appears in the sky as a result of the refraction of light passing through drops of water. Plain white color consists of a whole spectrum (7 colors) with different wavelengths. Each wave differently deviates to the side. This explains the variety of shades. The beam, having hit the shell of a raindrop, bends and crumbles across the firmament with a bright arc.
Why is it still an arc? This shape is explained by the law of optical refraction. A light beam, trying to break through water, which has a higher density than air, undergoes a 42-fold deviation from the original axis.The human eye can see it only in the form of a circle. In addition, the droplets themselves are spherical. They represent little balls. Light passing through them simply reflects their surface. That is, the white ray turns into multi-colored funnels, each of which is inserted into another.
What do rainbow parameters depend on?
It's all about drops. Many parameters of the optical phenomenon depend on their size: width, brightness of the arcs. After a heavy rainfall with large rains, a bright but narrow rainbow appears. It has an intensely pronounced beginning - a saturated red color. Funnels of other shades are tightly adjacent to each other, do not leave gaps.
Rain with small droplets can cause a dull rainbow. The most noticeable are yellow and orange shades. The bands are spaced apart. This rocker is not very bright, but wide.
The radius of a multi-colored phenomenon also depends on the droplets. During the fall, they lose their sphericity. The stronger the flattening, the smaller the distance between the side surfaces.
In popular beliefs, the rainbow is interpreted as a symbol of peace. In contrast to lightning, which personify with God's mercy. An important role is played by its shades. Bright red means the anger of higher powers, yellow promises a generous harvest, green is associated with hope, blue gives peace, and purple symbolizes greatness.
Varieties of the optical phenomenon
An ordinary rainbow is not the only phenomenon that people can admire. There are still no less beautiful phenomena.
Fire rainbow
It is round-horizontal. It occurs against the background of light cirrus clouds located high. It does not rain in front of her. Often such color flicker can be admired by residents of some American states. In Russia, it can be seen in the south.
Misty rainbow
This is a white arc. It occurs when the sun illuminates the fog. Its droplets are very small, only 25 microns. In this case, the inner side may have a purple hue. External is orange. Another name for such a miracle is the moon rainbow.
Reflected rainbow
Sunlight reflects off the surface of the water and only then falls on raindrops. But this phenomenon is rare, because it requires compliance with too many conditions.
All varieties, except fire, have, like the usual form, the shape of an arc. It is in the form of the circumference of the human eye that it perceives a refracted light ray. But he can not see the rainbow completely from the earth because of the horizon. Want to admire the play of light in all its glory, more often fly on airplanes and be observant.
