Remarkable Rainbows

Abstract

ON Saturday, at 3.15 p.m., there was a very brilliant primary rainbow, and a faint secondary bow above. Inside the primary, at first to the right of the centre, afterwards over the entire centre, were two other very faint bows, their colours in the same order as those of the primary, but with no distinguishable red, the violet of the upper bow seeming to touch the orange of the bow below in each case. Green was the most striking colour in the two inner bows, whose breadth appeared equal to each other, but considerably less than that of the primary; part of this effect being due to the loss of the red, probably all the remainder to irradiation. The perfect primary arch lasted fifteen minutes; an arc of the eastern side half an hour. The sun being comparatively high, the centre of the arch was low, and the bow looked flat. There was no wind, and many of the rain-drops were large, others mere dots.