Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2014 September 30
A Full Circle Rainbow over Australia
Image Credit & Copyright:
Colin Leonhardt
(Birdseye View Photography)
Explanation:
Have you ever seen an entire rainbow?
From the ground, typically, only the top portion of a rainbow is
visible because directions toward the ground have fewer raindrops.
From the air, though, the entire 360 degree circle of a
rainbow is more commonly visible.
Pictured here,
a full circle rainbow was captured over
Cottesloe Beach near
Perth,
Australia
last year by a helicopter flying between a setting sun and a downpour.
An observer-dependent
phenomenon
primarily caused by the
internal reflection
of sunlight by raindrops, the 84-degree diameter
rainbow
followed the helicopter, intact, for about 5 kilometers.
As a
bonus,
a
second rainbow
that was more faint and color-reversed was visible outside the first.
APOD Astrophotographers:
Has your work ever been used for scientific discovery?
Tomorrow's picture: hubble butter
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(
MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (
UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman
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