Pls send rainbows 🙏

Double rainbow! by Tom

Michigan is drowning right now in some of the worst rains on record. Every day for the last two weeks, from Midland to Grand Rapids to Traverse City, my feed has been full of images of people losing everything to flooding. PLEASE send rainbows.

Just so this post isn’t a totally depressing send-off for your weekend, let me call in one of my favorite websites, Atmospheric Optics. Regarding secondary rainbows or “double rainbows” they say that the secondary is nearly always fainter than the primary, with colors reversed and more widely separated:

Light can be reflected more than once inside a raindrop. Rays escaping after two reflections make a secondary bow.

The secondary has a radius of 51º and lies some 9º outside the primary bow. It is broader, 1.8X the width of the primary, and its colours are reversed so that the reds of the two bows always face one another. The secondary has 43% of the total brightness of the primary but its surface brightness is lower than that because its light is spread over its greater angular extent. The primary and secondary are are concentric, sharing the antisolar point for a center.

Tom took this near Alma back in 2014. See his latest on Flickr & check out more Michigan rainbows on Michigan in Pictures!

Double Rainbow

Double Rainbow, photo by Your Hometown Photography 

I simply love Atmospheric Optics for nearly everything about lights in the sky. Regarding secondary rainbows or “double rainbows” they say that the secondary is nearly always fainter than the primary, with colors reversed and more widely separated:

Light can be reflected more than once inside a raindrop. Rays escaping after two reflections make a secondary bow.

The secondary has a radius of 51º and lies some 9º outside the primary bow. It is broader, 1.8X the width of the primary, and its colours are reversed so that the reds of the two bows always face one another. The secondary has 43% of the total brightness of the primary but its surface brightness is lower than that because its light is spread over its greater angular extent. The primary and secondary are are concentric, sharing the antisolar point for a center.

About this particular rainbow from April 2, 2016, Gerry writes: “Double rainbow from the other night after the storms. The weather in Michigan can change quickly, from rainbows to snow. Yep, that’s Michigan.” 

Indeed. View her photo bigger and follow Your Hometown Photography on Facebook for more.

More rainbows on Michigan in Pictures.

Prismatic

lower harbor massive rainbow, photo by Lake Superior Photo

I’ve featured a photo of a rainbow and one of Marquette’s harbor in the last couple of days, but I haven’t featured a photo of both! Have a great weekend folks.

Shawn writes: prismatic is on the mind right now, recalling one of the most brilliant rainbows I’ve ever witnessed. View the photo background bigtacular and head over to Lake Superior Photo to view and purchase photos (including a stunning double rainbow) in her Lake Superior Landscapes gallery.

More rainbows & rainbow science on Michigan in Pictures.