We are used to seeing rainbows as just a bow. And yet they make a full circle. But to see them as a perimeter, you need to be at a certain height, not at ground level. In reality, all rainbows are circular, but we always see them from the ground. This means that the bottom half is hidden from view.
For example, a few years ago, construction workers at the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg, Russia, they recorded a striking example of a full circle rainbow. This 87-storey skyscraper has a height of 462 meters, making it the tallest skyscraper in Europe and the 16th tallest in the world. This fact makes it an ideal perspective for contemplating an entire rainbow.
The reason you’re at high altitude to see a full rainbow is, there must be water droplets below the observable horizon. And that only happens when you’re pretty high off the ground.
The center of the rainbow is directly opposite the Sun’s position in the sky, so more rainbows can be seen as the sun approaches the horizon. Therefore, the highest percentage of a rainbow (50 percent) typically occurs at sunrise or sunset.
This is how rainbow works
As Ángel Rodríguez of the informative portal cienciaes.com explains, “rainbow is a game of Nature. Three different players are involved: sun rays, water drops and our own eyes.. Yes, we are an important and very personal part of the game, because each of us sees a different rainbow, or rather, a different rainbow with each eye. What happens is that because one eye is so close to the other, the differences are very small and the brain is putting both images together.”
The classic explanation is that the rainbow It occurs because the sun’s rays fall on the surface of the raindrops, which are tiny transparent water globules, and during this time they change direction and come out backwards, separated into colors.. That’s why when we look at the rainbow, the Sun is always behind us.
better than airplane
Regarding observing the rainbow in a full circle, he affirms: “If we fly above the Earth’s surface, flying high enough not to exceed the clouds, the line connecting the Sun with us and the center of the rainbow may be free of obstacles. If there are enough drops of water in the environment at that moment, nature will make us a beautiful rainbow. He will reward you with his full circumference!”.
We might think that the same phenomenon can be seen from the top of a mountain, but it is not., because the mountain itself will block the passage of the sun’s rays and its shadow from completely closing the rainbow. Like this, The option is to fly in an airplane, a helicopter, or any other flying device we can fly. Or climb a skyscraper as high as in Saint Petersburg. In this case, we and the vehicle we are traveling in (or the building we are in) will cast a shadow at the center of the circle, which will not interfere if the shadow is small relative to the radius of the rainbow formation.
Reference article: https://www.cienciaes.com/ciencianuestra/2015/04/19/circunferencia_iris/
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