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Yesterday, a woman in Long Island, NY named Amanda Curtis was lucky enough to capture the rarest rainbow of them all – a quadruple rainbow. Her incredibly rare photo, and the excitement it inspired among commenters when it went viral, called to mind the viral ‘Double Rainbow’ video by Paul Vasquez.
According to meteorologists, what Curtis actually saw was a double-double rainbow, but that doesn’t make it any less magical. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research meteorologist Paul Neiman told the Washington Post that the second double rainbow resulted from the sun’s light reflecting off of a nearby body of water; “a large glassy-smooth water surface is required behind the observer. This smooth water surface reflects the sun, such that a second solar light source is generated. This reflected sun […] creates a second primary and secondary rainbow on the opposite side of the sky from the sun.”
(h/t: washingtonpost)
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I bet this guy wishes he’d been there!
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What do you think ?
SusanneBender-Constantino 10 years ago
I think the yellow, a few of you are talking about is the sun coming through. You can also see it on the smaller trees by the second house.
EdnaCabcabinMoran 10 years ago
Not fake. As a pro who uses photoshop, I say study the quality of light--the houses & trees are the same. Also, read about the science.
Vicki D'Ateno 5 years ago
OMG, thank you! I had trouble reading past that.
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ToddGiroux 10 years ago
The second bow is called a secondary bow. Secondary bows are caused by one extra reflection in water droplets. The extra reflection causes-
ToddGiroux 10 years ago
the secondary bow to have reversed color sequence and a subdued luminosity. In the image there is one primary bow and one secondary bow.
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dbradley 10 years ago
If there is only one sun how do you get two different angles on the bows?
Ashley Collins 5 years ago
It double reflects through the water droplets. The 2nd one can be above or below but the colors will be reversed (red inside/purple outside) and will be fainter.
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Angela Colada 5 years ago
Thats sunlight. I'm an extreme critic of fakes and photoshop's and I can tell you that not everything unusual is photoshopped.
Load More Replies... SusanneBender-Constantino 10 years ago
I think the yellow, a few of you are talking about is the sun coming through. You can also see it on the smaller trees by the second house.
EdnaCabcabinMoran 10 years ago
Not fake. As a pro who uses photoshop, I say study the quality of light--the houses & trees are the same. Also, read about the science.
Vicki D'Ateno 5 years ago
OMG, thank you! I had trouble reading past that.
Load More Replies... ToddGiroux 10 years ago
The second bow is called a secondary bow. Secondary bows are caused by one extra reflection in water droplets. The extra reflection causes-
ToddGiroux 10 years ago
the secondary bow to have reversed color sequence and a subdued luminosity. In the image there is one primary bow and one secondary bow.
Load More Replies... dbradley 10 years ago
If there is only one sun how do you get two different angles on the bows?
Ashley Collins 5 years ago
It double reflects through the water droplets. The 2nd one can be above or below but the colors will be reversed (red inside/purple outside) and will be fainter.
Load More Replies... Angela Colada 5 years ago
Thats sunlight. I'm an extreme critic of fakes and photoshop's and I can tell you that not everything unusual is photoshopped.
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