Snapped Shot

The simple-minded woman asks "What causes this?" and believes it is from something oozing out of the ground that makes a rainbow appear! LOL

Silly, lady...the answer to the rainbow is the pot of gold put there by leprechauns that only they can see. And we all know leprechauns have been around since the days of the Druids in Ireland. You have no cause for alarm, this is nothing new oozing out of our ground. Rainbows are only a bit of whimsical trickery by the little people, lady. Just sit down and have a bowl of Lucky Charms!

Or, you can get smart and learn what science has told us about how rainbows are formed before you go on your rampage and make a foolish video that shows how stupid you are. Did you not finish 3rd grade? That's where most of us learned about how rainbows are made. Can you remember, or is this too heavy for you:

A rainbow occurs when raindrops and sunshine cross paths. Sunlight consists of all the colors of light, which add together to make white illumination. When sunlight enters water drops, it reflects off their inside surfaces. While passing through the droplets, the light also separates into its component colors, which is similar to the effect of a glass prism. Each falling water drop actually flashes its colors to the observer for just an instant, before another drop takes its place.

Further, science tells us: A rainbow is usually seen in the opposite direction in the sky from the sun. The rainbow light is reflected to the eye at an angle of 42 degrees to the original ray of sunlight. The bow shape is actually part of a cone of light that is cut off by the horizon. If you travel toward the end of a rainbow, it will move ahead of you, maintaining its shape. Thus, there is no real end to a rainbow, and no pot of gold waiting there. Because the 42 degree angle is measured from each individual observer's eye, no two people see exactly the same rainbow. Every person is at the center of his or her own particular cone of colored light. From the high vantage point of a mountaintop or an airplane a complete circle of rainbow light sometimes can be seen.

The bright, primary rainbow has red on the outer edge and blue within. Higher in the sky there is always another, dimmer rainbow with the order of colors reversed. This secondary rainbow results from additional reflection of sunlight through the raindrops. It is most visible when there are dark clouds behind it. Look for the second bow high in the sky the next time rainbow colors appear. Some observers have even reported seeing third and fourth rainbows above the first two.

There,my scared little environmentalist, does that help? Next time, water your lawn in the evening!
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