Jakarta –
The true appearance of a rainbow is a perfect circle, not an arc or semicircle as we have seen so far. But in order to see it, we have to be at the right time and place.
In fact, we always see rainbows from ground level. This means that the bottom of the rainbow is blocked from the human eye so we see it as a semi-circle.
If we reach the right height, our eyes will be treated to a full circle rainbow. A stunning example of a circular rainbow was caught on camera by a construction worker at the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg, Russia, named Jakob Owens.
He managed to photograph it from an 87-story skyscraper 462 meters high. Even though he could see it in full circle, he had trouble capturing the full rainbow, so the result looks like the one in the following photo. But at least, the photos he captured can give an idea of the original shape of the rainbow.
Must Be on High Ground
The reason we have to be very high up to see a full circle rainbow is because in order to witness it, there must be water droplets below the horizon that we can observe. It will only happen if we are away from the ground.
“The center of the rainbow is directly opposite the position of the Sun in the sky, so more of the rainbow is visible as the Sun approaches the horizon,” explained the UK Met Office as quoted by IFL Science.
“Therefore, usually we will see the largest percentage of rainbows (50%) when the sun rises or sets,” he continued.
Airplanes are also a good place to see a full circle rainbow. In fact, the plane is treated to a variety of amazing tricks displayed by light which is called the ‘pilot’s glory’. This natural attraction can be seen when an optical illusion makes it appear as if the plane’s image is being lit up by a rainbow-colored halo.
Rainbow Formed
Rainbows occur due to the process of refraction. The sun refracts its rays onto the drops or water and produces beautiful, separated colors.
When the process of refraction of sunlight occurs, the light is bent from another direction from traveling from one medium to another (air to water). Furthermore, each color of the rainbow will be deflected at a different angle so that it will give a beautiful color to the rainbow.
The first color that is deflected is purple, while the last color that is deflected is red. In the end, our eyes will see that the rainbow looks red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple or mejikuhibiniu.
Watch Video “Appearance of the Ringed Sun in the Sky of Sukabumi“
(rns/rns)
