Double Bow

As the weather deigns to change and winter approaches, rainy days become more prevalent. The one good thing about a rainy day is the rainbows that appear in between the showers. Over this last weekend, the showers came and so did the rainbows. If the conditions are right, a double rainbow can be seen. This is caused by the light refracting off the water in the atmosphere and the component light wavelengths being stretched. A double rainbow will have the colors inverted, usually one side is more pronounced. The area between the colors is not empty, just that our eyes can’t see those colors. There is a visible change, more a darkening, but there is a visible change to the color in the arc. There has to be a lot of water vapor in the air and the sun angle right to create the double bow, but it is interesting to see this when you have the chance and the conditions are right.