© Mark Spurgeon
Smallburgh, Norfolk, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Latitude: 52° 46' 8'' N
Longitude: 1° 27' 0'' E
21 May 2014 2046 (Local Time)
Camera direction: towards SE
Image P/S code: P.13.5.1.1
Image I.D.: 4069
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This picture, taken in a rain shower near sunset in Hong Kong (China), shows the primary rainbow and a fainter secondary bow that are both predominantly red in colour. The bows lack the full colours of the spectrum because when the Sun is near the horizon, the shorter blue and green wavelengths of light are scattered by their long pathway through the atmosphere. The direct light rays forming the rainbow are therefore proportionally higher in the longer red wavelengths of light.
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In a rain shower near sunset, this primary rainbow forms a semicircle centred on the horizon directly opposite the setting Sun. The bow lacks the full colours of the spectrum because when the Sun is near the horizon, the shorter blue and green wavelengths of light are scattered by their long pathway through the atmosphere. The direct light rays forming the rainbow are therefore proportionally higher in the longer, red wavelengths of light.
Converging on the antisolar point (the point directly opposite the Sun) are dark streaks alternating with light beams. These are anticrepuscular rays.
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