Atmospheric refraction is the deviation of light or other electromagnetic wave from a

straight line as it passes through the atmosphere due to the variation in air density as a
function of altitude. Atmospheric refraction near the ground produces mirages and can
make distant objects appear to shimmer or ripple, elevated or lowered, stretched or
shortened with no mirage involved. The term also applies to the refraction of sound.

Atmospheric refraction causes astronomical objects to appear higher in the sky than they
are in reality. It affects not only light rays but all electromagnetic radiation, although in
varying degrees (see dispersion in optics). For example in visible light, blue is more
affected than red. This may cause astronomical objects to be spread out into a spectrum in
high-resolution images.

Whenever possible, astronomers will schedule their observations around the time of
culmination of an object when it is highest in the sky. Likewise sailors will never shoot a
star which is not at least 20° or more above the horizon. If observations close to the
horizon cannot be avoided, it is possible to equip a telescope with control systems to
compensate for the shift caused by the refraction. If the dispersion is a problem too, (in
case of broadband high-resolution observations) atmospheric refraction correctors can be
employed as well (made from pairs of rotating glass prisms). But as the amount of
atmospheric refraction is a function of temperature and pressure as well as humidity (the
amount of water vapour is especially important at mid-infrared wavelengths) the amount
of effort needed for a successful compensation can be prohibitive.

It gets even worse when the atmospheric refraction is not homogenous, when there is
turbulence in the air for example. This is the cause of twinkling of the stars and
deformation of the shape of the sun at sunset and sunrise.
Photograph of the full Moon partly obscured by Earth's atmosphere. Note the deviation
from circular in the Moon's lower edge, caused by refraction.

diagram showing displacement of the Sun's image at

sunrise and sunset
Values
Atmospheric refraction is zero in the zenith, is less than 1′ (one arc minute) at 45°
apparent altitude, still only 5.3′ at 10° altitude, but then quickly increases as the horizon is
approached (Allen 1976, 125). On the horizon itself refraction is about 34′, just slightly
greater than the apparent diameter of the Sun. Therefore if it appears that the setting sun
is just above the horizon, in reality it has already set. By convention, sunrise and sunset
refer to times at which the Sun’s upper limb appears on or disappears from the horizon; at
these times, the Sun’s true altitude is −50′: −34′ for the refraction and −16′ for the Sun’s
semi diameter (the altitude of a celestial body is normally given for the centre of the
body’s disc). In the case of the Moon, additional corrections are needed for the Moon’s
horizontal parallax and its apparent semi diameter; both vary with the Earth–Moon
distance.

Refraction is also a function of temperature and pressure. The values given above are for
10 °C and 101.3 kPa (Allen 1976, 125). Add 1% to the refraction for every 3 °C colder,
subtract if hotter (hot air is less dense, and will therefore have less refraction). Add 1%
for every 0.9 kPa higher pressure, subtract if lower. Day-to-day variations in the weather
will affect the exact times of sunrise and sunset (Schaefer and Liller 1990) as well as
moonrise and moonset, and for that reason it generally is not meaningful to give rise and
set times to greater precision than the nearest minute (Meeus 1991, 103). However, more
precise calculations can be useful for determining average day-to-day changes in rise and
set times (for example Meeus 2002, 315) if it is understood that actual changes may differ
because of unpredictable variations in atmospheric conditions.

Because atmospheric refraction is 34′ on the horizon itself, but only 29′ at 0.5° above it,
the setting or rising sun seems to be flattened by about 5′ (about 1/6 of its apparent
diameter).

Random refraction effects

An image of the Moon's surface showing the effects of Earth's atmosphere on the view
Turbulence in the atmosphere magnifies and de-magnifies star images, making them
appear brighter and fainter on a time-scale of milliseconds. The slowest components of
these fluctuations are visible to the eye as twinkling (also called “scintillation”).

Turbulence also causes small random motions of the star image, and produces rapid
changes in its structure. These effects are not visible to the naked eye, but are easily seen
even in small telescopes. They are called “seeing” by astronomers.

Scattering of Light
Scattering of light or other electromagnetic radiation is the deflection of rays in random
directions by irregularities in the propagation medium, or in a surface or interface
between two media. Certain type of scattering from surfaces or interfaces is also
commonly referred to as diffuse reflection.

Most objects that one sees are visible due to light scattering from their surfaces. Indeed,
this is our primary mechanism of physical observation.[1][2] Scattering of light depends on
the wavelength or frequency of the light being scattered. Since visible light has
wavelength on the order of a micron, objects much smaller than this cannot be seen, even
with the aid of a microscope. Colloidal particles as small as 1 µm have been observed
directly in aqueous suspension.[3][4]

Mechanisms of diffuse reflection include surface scattering from roughness and

subsurface scattering from internal irregularities such as grain boundaries in
polycrystalline solids.

The transmission of various frequencies of light is essential for applications ranging from
window glass to fiber optic transmission cables and infrared (IR) heat-seeking missile
detection systems. Light propagating through an optical system can be attenuated by
absorption, reflection and scattering.

Types of scattering
• Rayleigh scattering is the elastic scattering of light by molecules and particulate
matter much smaller than the wavelength of the incident light. It occurs when
light penetrates gaseous, liquid, or solid phases of matter. Rayleigh scattering
intensity has a very strong dependence on the size of the particles (it is
proportional the sixth power of their diameter). It is inversely proportional to the
fourth power of the wavelength of light, which means that the shorter wavelength
in visible white light (violet and blue) are scattered stronger than the longer
wavelengths toward the red end of the visible spectrum. This type of scattering is
therefore responsible for the blue color of the sky during the day.[11] and the
orange colors during sunrise and sunset. Rayleigh scattering is the main cause of
signal loss in optical fibers.[12]

• Mie scattering is a broad class of scattering of light by spherical particles of any

diameter. The scattering intensity is generally not strongly dependent on the
wavelength, but is sensitive to the particle size. Mie scattering coincides with
Rayleigh scattering in the special case where the diameter of the particles is much
smaller than the wavelength of the light; in this limit, however, the shape of the
particles no longer matters. Mie scattering intensity for large particles is
proportional to the square of the particle diameter.

• Tyndall scattering is similar to Mie scattering without the restriction to spherical

geometry of the particles. It is particularly applicable to colloidal mixtures and
suspensions.

• Brillouin scattering occurs from the interaction of photons with acoustic phonons
in solids, which are vibrational quanta of lattice vibrations, or with elastic waves
in liquids. The scattering is inelastic, meaning it is shifted in energy from the
Rayleigh line frequency by an amount that corresponds to the energy of the elastic
wave or phonon, and it occurs on the higher and lower energy side of the
Rayleigh line, which may be associated with the creation and annihilation of a
phonon.[13] The light wave is considered to be scattered by the density maximum
or amplitude of the acoustic phonon, in the same manner that X-rays are scattered
by the crystal planes in a solid.[14] In solids, the role of the crystal planes in this
process is analogous to the planes of the sound waves or density fluctuations.
Brillouin scattering measurements require the use of a high-contrast Fabry–Pérot
interferometer to resolve the Brillouin lines from the elastic scattering, because
the energy shifts are very small (< 100 cm-1) and very weak in intensity. Brillouin
scattering measurements yield the sound velocities in a material, which may be
used to calculate the elastic constants of the sample.
 • Raman scattering is another form of inelastic light scattering, but instead of
scattering from acousting phonons, as in Brillouin scattering, the light interacts
with optical phonons, which are predominantly intra-molecular vibrations and
rotations with energies larger than acoustic phonons. Raman scattering may
therefore be used to determine chemical composition and molecular structure.[15]
Since most Raman lines are stronger than Brillouin lines, and have higher
energies, standard spectrometers using scanning monochromators may be used to
measure them. Raman spectrometers are standard equipment in many chemical
laboratories.

Dispersion (optics)

In optics, dispersion is the phenomenon in which the phase velocity of a wave depends
on its frequency,[1] or alternatively when the group velocity depends on the frequency.
Media having such a property are termed dispersive media. Dispersion is sometimes
called chromatic dispersion to emphasize its wavelength-dependent nature, or group-
velocity dispersion (GVD) to emphasize the role of the group velocity.

The most familiar example of dispersion is probably a rainbow, in which dispersion

causes the spatial separation of a white light into components of different wavelengths
(different colors). However, dispersion also has an effect in many other circumstances:
for example, GVD causes pulses to spread in optical fibers, degrading signals over long
distances; also, a cancellation between group-velocity dispersion and nonlinear effects
leads to soliton waves. Dispersion is most often described for light waves, but it may
occur for any kind of wave that interacts with a medium or passes through an
inhomogeneous geometry (e.g., a waveguide), such as sound waves.

There are generally two sources of dispersion: material dispersion and waveguide
dispersion. Material dispersion comes from a frequency-dependent response of a
material to waves. For example, material dispersion leads to undesired chromatic
aberration in a lens or the separation of colors in a prism. Waveguide dispersion occurs
when the speed of a wave in a waveguide (such as an optical fiber) depends on its
frequency for geometric reasons, independent of any frequency dependence of the
materials from which it is constructed. More generally, "waveguide" dispersion can occur
for waves propagating through any inhomogeneous structure (e.g., a photonic crystal),
whether or not the waves are confined to some region. In general, both types of
dispersion may be present, although they are not strictly additive. Their combination
leads to signal degradation in optical fibers for telecommunications, because the varying
delay in arrival time between different components of a signal "smears out" the signal in
time.
In a prism, material dispersion (a wavelength-dependent refractive index) causes different
colors to refract at different angles, splitting white light into a rainbow.

A compact fluorescent lamp seen through an Amici prism

Rainbow
A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light
to appear in the sky when the Sun shines on to droplets of moisture in the Earth's
atmosphere. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc, with red on the outer part of the arc
and violet on the inner section.

A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colours; the distinct bands are an artifact of
human colour vision. The most commonly cited and remembered sequence, in English, is
Newton's sevenfold red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (popularly
memorized by mnemonics like Roy G. Biv). Rainbows can be caused by other forms of
water than rain, including mist, spray, and dew.

Semicircular double rainbow. Supernumerary rainbows on the inside of the primary arc.
Shadow of the photographer marks the centre of the rainbow circle (antisolar point).

Rainbows may also form in mist, such as that of a waterfall

Rainbow with a faint reflection in the lake

Visibility
Rainbows may also form in the spray created by waves (called spray bows)

Rainbow after sunlight bursts through after an intense shower in Maraetai, New Zealand.

Rainbows can be observed whenever there are water drops in the air and sunlight shining
from behind at a low altitude angle. The most spectacular rainbow displays happen when
half the sky is still dark with raining clouds and the observer is at a spot with clear sky in
the direction of the sun. The result is a luminous rainbow that contrasts with the darkened
background.

The rainbow effect is also commonly seen near waterfalls or fountains. In addition, the
effect can be artificially created by dispersing water droplets into the air during a sunny
day. Rarely, a moonbow, lunar rainbow or nighttime rainbow, can be seen on strongly
moonlit nights. As human visual perception for colour is poor in low light, moonbows are
often perceived to be white.[1] It is difficult to photograph the complete semicircle of a
rainbow in one frame, as this would require an angle of view of 84°. For a 35 mm
camera, a lens with a focal length of 19 mm or less wide-angle lens would be required.
Now that powerful software for stitching several images into a panorama is available,
images of the entire arc and even secondary arcs can be created fairly easily from a series
of overlapping frames. From an aeroplane, one has the opportunity to see the whole circle
of the rainbow, with the plane's shadow in the centre. This phenomenon can be confused
with the glory, but a glory is usually much smaller, covering only 5–20°.

At good visibility conditions (for example, a dark cloud behind the rainbow), the second
arc can be seen, with inverse order of colours. At the background of the blue sky, the
second arc is barely visible.

Scientific explanation
The light is first refracted entering the surface of the raindrop, reflected off the back of
the drop, and again refracted as it leaves the drop. The overall effect is that the incoming
light is reflected back over a wide range of angles, with the most intense light at an angle
of 40–42°. The angle is independent of the size of the drop, but does depend on its
refractive index. Seawater has a higher refractive index than rain water, so the radius of a
"rainbow" in sea spray is smaller than a true rainbow. This is visible to the naked eye by a
misalignment of these bows.[2] The amount by which light is refracted depends upon its
wavelength, and hence its colour. Blue light (shorter wavelength) is refracted at a greater
angle than red light, but due to the reflection of light rays from the back of the droplet,
the blue light emerges from the droplet at a smaller angle to the original incident white
light ray than the red light. You may then think it is strange that the pattern of colours in a
rainbow has red on the outside of the arc and blue on the inside. However, when we
examine this issue more closely, we realise that if the red light from one droplet is seen
by an observer, then the blue light from that droplet will not be seen because it is on a
different path from the red light: a path which is not incident with the observer's eyes.
The blue light seen in this rainbow will therefore come from a different droplet, which
must be below that whose red light can be observed.

Contrary to popular belief, the light at the back of the raindrop does not undergo total
internal reflection, and some light does emerge from the back. However, light coming out
the back of the raindrop does not create a rainbow between the observer and the Sun
because spectra emitted from the back of the raindrop do not have a maximum of
intensity, as the other visible rainbows do, and thus the colours blend together rather than
forming a rainbow.[3]

White light separates into different colours on entering the raindrop because
red light is refracted by a lesser angle than blue light. On leaving the
raindrop, the red rays have turned through a smaller angle than the blue rays,
producing a rainbow.

A rainbow does not actually exist at a particular location in the sky. Its apparent position
depends on the observer's location and the position of the Sun. All raindrops refract and
reflect the sunlight in the same way, but only the light from some raindrops reaches the
observer's eye. This light is what constitutes the rainbow for that observer. The position
of a rainbow in the sky is always in the opposite direction of the Sun with respect to the
observer, and the interior is always slightly brighter than the exterior. The bow is centred
on the shadow of the observer's head, or more exactly at the antisolar point (which is
below the horizon during the daytime), appearing at an angle of 40–42° to the line
between the observer's head and its shadow. As a result, if the Sun is higher than 42°,
then the rainbow is below the horizon and usually cannot be seen as there are not usually
sufficient raindrops between the horizon (that is: eye height) and the ground, to
contribute. Exceptions occur when the observer is high above the ground, for example in
an aeroplane (see above), on top of a mountain, or above a waterfall.

Variations
"Double rainbow" redirects here. For other uses, see Double Rainbow (disambiguation).

A double rainbow features reversed colours in the

Some light reflects twice inside the raindrop before outer (secondary) bow, with the dark Alexander's
exiting to the viewer. When the incident light is band between the bows.
very bright, this can be seen as a secondary
rainbow, brightest at 50–53°.

Frequently, a dim secondary rainbow is seen outside the primary bow. Secondary
rainbows are caused by a double reflection of sunlight inside the raindrops, and appear at
an angle of 50–53°. As a result of the second reflection, the colours of a secondary
rainbow are inverted compared to the primary bow, with blue on the outside and red on
the inside. The secondary rainbow is fainter than the primary because more light escapes
from two reflections compared to one and because the rainbow itself is spread over a
greater area of the sky. The dark area of unlit sky lying between the primary and
secondary bows is called Alexander's band, after Alexander of Aphrodisias who first
described it.

A third, or tertiary, rainbow can be seen on rare occasions, and a few observers have
reported seeing quadruple rainbows in which a dim outermost arc had a rippling and
pulsating appearance. These rainbows would appear on the same side of the sky as the
Sun, making them hard to spot. One type of tertiary rainbow carries with it the
appearance of a secondary rainbow immediately outside the primary bow. The closely
spaced outer bow has been observed to form dynamically at the same time that the
outermost (tertiary) rainbow disappears. During this change, the two remaining rainbows
have been observed to merge into a band of white light with a blue inner and red outer
band. This particular form of doubled rainbow is not like the classic double rainbow due
to both spacing of the two bows and that the two bows share identical normal colour
positioning before merging. With both bows, the inner colour is blue and the outer colour
is red.

Higher-order rainbows were described by Felix Billet (1808–1882) who depicted angular
positions up to the 19th-order rainbow, a pattern he called "rose".[4] In the laboratory, it is
possible to observe higher-order rainbows by using extremely bright and well collimated
light produced by lasers. A sixth-order rainbow was first observed by K. Sassan in 1979
using a HeNe laser beam and a pendant water drop.[5] Up to the 200th-order rainbow was
reported by Ng et al. in 1998 using a similar method but an argon ion laser beam.[6]

Supernumerary rainbow

A contrast-enhanced photograph of a supernumerary rainbow, with additional green and

purple arcs inside the primary bow.

A supernumerary rainbow—also known as a stacker rainbow—is an infrequent

phenomenon, consisting of several faint rainbows on the inner side of the primary
rainbow, and very rarely also outside the secondary rainbow. Supernumerary rainbows
are slightly detached and have pastel colour bands that do not fit the usual pattern.

It is not possible to explain their existence using classical geometric optics. The
alternating faint rainbows are caused by interference between rays of light following
slightly different paths with slightly varying lengths within the raindrops. Some rays are
in phase, reinforcing each other through constructive interference, creating a bright band;
others are out of phase by up to half a wavelength, canceling each other out through
destructive interference, and creating a gap. Given the different angles of refraction for
rays of different colours, the patterns of interference are slightly different for rays of
different colours, so each bright band is differentiated in colour, creating a miniature
rainbow. Supernumerary rainbows are clearest when raindrops are small and of similar
size. The very existence of supernumerary rainbows was historically a first indication of
the wave nature of light, and the first explanation was provided by Thomas Young in
1804.
Reflected rainbow, reflection rainbow

Reflection rainbow and normal rainbow, at sunset

When a rainbow appears above a body of water, two complementary mirror bows may be
seen below and above the horizon, originating from different light paths. Their names are
slightly different. A reflected rainbow will appear as a mirror image in the water surface
below the horizon, if the surface is quiet (see photo above). The sunlight is first deflected
by the raindrops, and then reflected off the body of water, before reaching the observer.
The reflected rainbow is frequently visible, at least partially, even in small puddles.

Where sunlight reflects off a body of water before reaching the raindrops (see diagram),
it may produce a reflection rainbow (see photo at the right), if the water body is large,
quiet over its entire surface, and close to the rain curtain. The reflection rainbow appears
above the horizon. It intersects the normal rainbow at the horizon, and its arc reaches
higher in the sky, with its centre as high above the horizon as the normal rainbow's centre
is below it. Due to the combination of requirements, a reflection rainbow is rarely visible.

Six (or even eight) bows may be distinguished if the reflection of the reflection bow, and
the secondary bow with its reflections happen to appear simultaneously.[7]

Circumhorizontal arc

The circumhorizontal arc is sometimes referred to by the misnomer "fire rainbow". As it

originates in ice crystals, it is not a rainbow but a halo.[8]

Rainbows on Titan

It has been suggested that rainbows might exist on Saturn's moon Titan, as it has a wet
surface and humid clouds. The radius of a Titan rainbow would be about 49° instead of
42°, because the fluid in that cold environment is methane instead of water. A visitor
might need infrared goggles to see the rainbow, as Titan's atmosphere is more transparent
for those wavelengths.[9]

Scientific history
The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BCE) was first to devote serious attention to
the rainbow. After Aristotle's death, much rainbow theory consisted of reaction to his
work, although not all of this was uncritical.[10]

The Arab physicist and polymath, Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen; 965–1039), attempted to
provide a scientific explanation for the rainbow phenomenon. In his Maqala fi al-Hala
wa Qaws Quzah (On the Rainbow and Halo), he "explained the formation of rainbow as
an image, which forms at a concave mirror. If the rays of light coming from a farther
light source reflect to any point on axis of the concave mirror, they form concentric
circles in that point. When it is supposed that the sun as a farther light source, the eye of
viewer as a point on the axis of mirror and a cloud as a reflecting surface, then it can be
observed the concentric circles are forming on the axis."[11] He was not able to verify this
because his theory that "light from the sun is reflected by a cloud before reaching the
eye" did not allow for a possible experimental verification.[12] This explanation was later
repeated by Averroes,[11] and, though incorrect, provided the groundwork for the correct
explanations later given by Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī (1267–ca. 1319/1320) and Theodoric
of Freiberg (c.1250–1310).[13] Ibn al-Haytham supported the Aristotelian views that the
rainbow is caused by reflection alone and that its colours are not real like object colours.
[14]

Ibn al-Haytham's contemporary, the Persian philosopher and polymath Ibn Sīnā
(Avicenna; 980–1037), provided an alternative explanation, writing "that the bow is not
formed in the dark cloud but rather in the very thin mist lying between the cloud and the
sun or observer. The cloud, he thought, serves simply as the background of this thin
substance, much as a quicksilver lining is placed upon the rear surface of the glass in a
mirror. Ibn Sīnā would change the place not only of the bow, but also of the colour
formation, holding the iridescence to be merely a subjective sensation in the eye."[15] This
explanation, however, was also incorrect.[11] Ibn Sīnā's account accepts many of
Aristotle's arguments on the rainbow.[14]

In Song Dynasty China (960–1279), a polymathic scholar-official named Shen Kuo

(1031–1095) hypothesized—as a certain Sun Sikong (1015–1076) did before him—that
rainbows were formed by a phenomenon of sunlight encountering droplets of rain in the
air.[16] Paul Dong writes that Shen's explanation of the rainbow as a phenomenon of
atmospheric refraction "is basically in accord with modern scientific principles."[17]

The Persian astronomer, Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (1236–1311), gave a fairly accurate
explanation for the rainbow phenomenon. This was elaborated on by his student, Kamāl
al-Dīn al-Fārisī (1260–1320), who gave a more mathematically satisfactory explanation
of the rainbow. He "proposed a model where the ray of light from the sun was refracted
twice by a water droplet, one or more reflections occurring between the two refractions."
He verified this through extensive experimentation using a transparent sphere filled with
water and a camera obscura.[12][unreliable source?] As he noted in his Kitab Tanqih al-Manazir
(The Revision of the Optics), al-Farisi used a large clear vessel of glass in the shape of a
sphere, which was filled with water, in order to have an experimental large-scale model
of a rain drop. He then placed this model within a camera obscura that has a controlled
aperture for the introduction of light. He projected light unto the sphere and ultimately
deduced through several trials and detailed observations of reflections and refractions of
light that the colours of the rainbow are phenomena of the decomposition of light. His
research had resonances with the studies of his contemporary Theodoric of Freiberg
(without any contacts between them; even though they both relied on Aristotle's and Ibn
al-Haytham's legacy), and later with the experiments of Descartes and Newton in
dioptrics (for instance, Newton conducted a similar experiment at Trinity College, though
using a prism rather than a sphere).[18][19][20][21][verification needed]

In Europe, Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics was translated into Latin and studied by
Robert Grosseteste. His work on light was continued by Roger Bacon, who wrote in his
Opus Majus of 1268 about experiments with light shining through crystals and water
droplets showing the colours of the rainbow.[22] In addition, Bacon was the first to
calculate the angular size of the rainbow. He stated that the rainbow summit can not
appear higher than 42° above the horizon.[23] Theodoric of Freiberg is known to have
given an accurate theoretical explanation of both the primary and secondary rainbows in
1307. He explained the primary rainbow, noting that "when sunlight falls on individual
drops of moisture, the rays undergo two refractions (upon ingress and egress) and one
reflection (at the back of the drop) before transmission into the eye of the observer".[24]
He explained the secondary rainbow through a similar analysis involving two refractions
and two reflections.

René Descartes' sketch of how primary and secondary rainbows are formed

Descartes' 1637 treatise, Discourse on Method, further advanced this explanation.

Knowing that the size of raindrops did not appear to affect the observed rainbow, he
experimented with passing rays of light through a large glass sphere filled with water. By
measuring the angles that the rays emerged, he concluded that the primary bow was
caused by a single internal reflection inside the raindrop and that a secondary bow could
be caused by two internal reflections. He supported this conclusion with a derivation of
the law of refraction (subsequently to, but independently of, Snell) and correctly
calculated the angles for both bows. His explanation of the colours, however, was based
on a mechanical version of the traditional theory that colours were produced by a
modification of white light.[25][26]

Isaac Newton demonstrated that white light was composed of the light of all the colours
of the rainbow, which a glass prism could separate into the full spectrum of colours,
rejecting the theory that the colours were produced by a modification of white light. He
also showed that red light gets refracted less than blue light, which led to the first
scientific explanation of the major features of the rainbow.[27] Newton's corpuscular
theory of light was unable to explain supernumerary rainbows, and a satisfactory
explanation was not found until Thomas Young realised that light behaves as a wave
under certain conditions, and can interfere with itself.

Young's work was refined in the 1820s by George Biddell Airy, who explained the
dependence of the strength of the colours of the rainbow on the size of the water droplets.
Modern physical descriptions of the rainbow are based on Mie scattering, work published
by Gustav Mie in 1908. Advances in computational methods and optical theory continue
to lead to a fuller understanding of rainbows. For example, Nussenzveig provides a
modern overview.[28]

Culture
Mythology

The end of a rainbow

Main article: Rainbows in mythology

The rainbow has a place in legend owing to its beauty and the historical difficulty in
explaining the phenomenon.

In Greek mythology, the rainbow was considered to be a path made by a messenger (Iris)
between Earth and Heaven. In Chinese mythology, the rainbow was a slit in the sky
sealed by goddess Nüwa using stones of five different colours.

In Hindu mythology, the rainbow is called Indradhanush, meaning "the bow (Sanskrit
and Hindi: dhanush is bow) of Indra, the god of lightning, thunder and rain". Another
Indian mythology says the rainbow is the bow of Rama, the incarnation of Vishnu. It is
called Ramdhonu in Bengali, dhonu (dhanush) meaning bow. Likewise, in mythology of
Arabian Peninsula, the rainbow, called Qaus Quzaħ in Arabic, is the war bow of the god
Quzaħ.
In Norse Mythology, a rainbow called the Bifröst Bridge connects the realms of Ásgard
and Midgard, homes of the gods and humans, respectively. The Irish leprechaun's secret
hiding place for his pot of gold is usually said to be at the end of the rainbow. This place
is impossible to reach, because the rainbow is an optical effect which depends on the
location of the viewer. When walking towards the end of a rainbow, it will appear to
"move" further away (two people who simultaneously observe a rainbow at different
locations will disagree about where a rainbow is).

Another ancient portrayal of the rainbow is given in the Epic of Gilgamesh: the rainbow
is the "jewelled necklace of the Great Mother Ishtar" that she lifts into the sky as a
promise that she "will never forget these days of the great flood" that destroyed her
children. (The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet Eleven)

Then Ishtar arrived. She lifted up the necklace of great jewels that her father, Anu, had
created to please her and said, "Heavenly gods, as surely as this jewelled necklace hangs
upon my neck, I will never forget these days of the great flood. Let all of the gods except
Enlil come to the offering. Enlil may not come, for without reason he brought forth the
flood that destroyed my people."

According to Christian mythology and Judaic mythology, after Noah's flood the rainbow
gained meaning as the sign of God's promise that terrestrial life would never again be
destroyed by flood (Genesis 9:13–17):[29]

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the
earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be
seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and
every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy
all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember
the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon
the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have
established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

In the Dreamtime of Australian Aboriginal mythology, the rainbow snake is the deity
governing water. In Amazonian cultures, rainbows have long been associated with
malign spirits that cause harm, such as miscarriages and (especially) skin problems. In
the Amuesha language of central Peru, certain diseases are called ayona’achartan,
meaning "the rainbow hurt my skin". A tradition of closing one's mouth at the sight of a
rainbow in order to avoid disease appears to pre-date the Incan empire.[30][31]

In New Age and Hindu philosophy, the seven colours of the rainbow represent the seven
chakras, from the first chakra (red) to the seventh chakra (violet).

Art

Rainbows are generally described as very colourful and peaceful. The rainbow occurs
often in paintings. Frequently these have a symbolic or programmatic significance (for
example, Albrecht Dürer's Melancholia I). In particular, the rainbow appears regularly in
religious art (for example, Joseph Anton Koch's Noah's Thanksoffering). Romantic
landscape painters such as Turner and Constable were more concerned with recording
fleeting effects of light (for example, Constable's Salisbury Cathedral from the
Meadows). Other notable examples appear in work by Hans Memling, Caspar David
Friedrich, and Peter Paul Rubens.

The Blind Girl, oil painting

(1856) by John Everett
Millais. The rainbow – one
of the beauties of nature
Noah's Thanksoffering (c. 1803) by Joseph Anton Koch.
that the blind girl cannot
Noah builds an altar to the Lord after being delivered from
experience – is used to
the Flood; God sends the rainbow as a sign of his covenant
underline the pathos of her
(Genesis 8–9).
condition.

Literature

The rainbow inspires metaphor and simile. Virginia Woolf in To the Lighthouse
highlights the transience of life and Man's mortality through Mrs Ramsey's thought,

"it was all as ephemeral as a rainbow"

Wordsworth's 1802 poem "My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold The Rainbow" begins:

My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!...
The Newtonian deconstruction of the rainbow is said to have provoked John Keats to
lament in his 1820 poem "Lamia":

Do not all charms fly

At the mere touch of cold philosophy?
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:
We know her woof, her texture; she is given
In the dull catalogue of common things.
Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine –
Unweave a rainbow

In contrast to this is Richard Dawkins; talking about his book Unweaving the Rainbow:
Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder:

"My title is from Keats, who believed that Newton had destroyed all the poetry of the
rainbow by reducing it to the prismatic colours. Keats could hardly have been more
wrong, and my aim is to guide all who are tempted by a similar view, towards the
opposite conclusion. Science is, or ought to be, the inspiration for great poetry."

Music

• In the song "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz, lead character Dorothy
Gale fantasises about a place over the rainbow, where the world is in peace and
harmony.
• In "Rainbow Connection", a song known for being sung by Kermit the Frog, the
idea of a rainbow is seen as something to wish on, as it is popularly seen as a
vision, or symbol of hope.
• In the "End of the Rainbow" by September, the singer sings about the rainbow,
and how she will be at the end of the rainbow and her ex could see her there when
he reaches the end of the rainbow.
• End of the rainbow is an award winning stage play with music (or musical drama)
by Peter Quilter.
• The group Rainbow and the song "Rainbow Demon" by Uriah Heep.
• "I Can Sing a Rainbow" is a popular children's classic song written by Arthur
Hamilton, despite the name of the song, not all the colours mentioned are actually
colours of the rainbow.
• Ronnie James Dio used rainbows as a thematic element in many of his songs,
particularly as singer and lyrics-writer for Ritchie Blackmore's band Rainbow.
Most notable among these are the songs Catch the Rainbow, Rainbow Eyes and
the Dio song Rainbow in the Dark.

Flags
Main article: Rainbow flag
Rainbow flags tend to be used as a sign of a new era, of hope, or of social change.
Rainbow flags have been used in many places over the centuries: in the German Peasants'
War in the 16th century, as a symbol of the Cooperative movement; as a symbol of peace,
especially in Italy; to represent the Tawantin Suyu, or Inca territory, mainly in Peru and
Bolivia;[32] by some Druze communities in the Middle east; by the Jewish Autonomous
Oblast; to represent the International Order of Rainbow for Girls since the early 1920s;
and as a symbol of gay pride and LGBT social movements since the 1970s.[33][34]

The seven colours of the rainbow

A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colours—there are no "bands." The apparent
discreteness is an artefact of the photopigments in the human eye and of the neural
processing of our photoreceptor outputs in the brain. Because the peak response of human
colour receptors varies from person to person, different individuals will see slightly
different colours, and persons with colour blindness will see a smaller set of colours.
However the seven colours listed below are thought to be representative of how humans
everywhere,[35] with normal colour vision, see the rainbow.

Newton originally (1672) named only five primary colours: red, yellow, green, blue and
violet. Later he included orange and indigo, giving seven colours by analogy to the
number of notes in a musical scale.[36]

Red: . Orange: . Yellow: . Green: . Blue: . Indigo: . Violet: .