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3 Rainbow Questions
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08-17-2012, 04:49 PM
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TaliaJack
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Oct 2005
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When moll says "41 degrees from the Sun" he means "41 degrees from the antisolar point" of course - that is the rainbow angle giving the
radius
of the bow. If the rainbow occurs right on sunset then the Sun will be on the horizon and the antisolar point on the opposite horizon and so the top of the bow will be 41 degrees above the horizon. In principle you could see the upper part of the bow created from sunlight coming from just below the horizon (and the antisolar point just above it) so the maximum elevation of the top of the bow could be a bit above 41 degrees above the horizon. In practice though almost all rainbows are seen a before sunset and so the maximum elevation will be less than 41 degrees.
The angular width of the bow varies a little due to drop size, I believe (with larger spreading due to diffraction in smaller drops). I could check later.
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