Received from family by email:

"THIS IS A FIRE RAINBOW - THE RAREST OF ALL NATURALLY OCCURING
ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. THE PICTURE WAS CAPTURED THIS WEEK ON THE IDAHO/
WASHINGTON BORDER THE EVENT LASTED ABOUT 1 HOUR CLOUDS HAVE TO BE
CIRRUS, AT LEAST 20K FEET IN THE AIR, WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF
ICE CRYSTALS AND THE SUN HAS TO HIT THE CLOUDS AT PRECISELY 58
DEGREES."

Hm. Perhaps you have seen this one in your Inbox. There's plenty of
discussion on the web. Snopes says it's legit.

In the picture, which I have hosted, we see some clouds up in the blue
sky with no terrain in sight. The red of the rainbow is at the top of
the picure, the blue at the bottom.

Assuming the sun is "behind" and "below" the picture, shouldn't the
blue parts of the rainbow be at the top? Those rays are bent farthest
according to a sketch I just scribbled out which is not hosted. I'd
have to scan it. Higher-energy rays bend farther in refractive media,
is that not true?

I say all this because on sight, it looked fake, like someone had
colored only the white of the clouds with a paint program. It also
looks too linear; the bands are too straight. I thought about it and
detected this inversion of the color positions, which may be a clue.

To see the picture, use

http://users.aol.com/DGoncz/Pictures/Rainbow.jpg

Doug Goncz
Replikon Research
Seven Corners, VA 22044-0394

The Dougster wrote:

Received from family by email:

"THIS IS A FIRE RAINBOW - THE RAREST OF ALL NATURALLY OCCURING
ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. THE PICTURE WAS CAPTURED THIS WEEK ON THE IDAHO/
WASHINGTON BORDER THE EVENT LASTED ABOUT 1 HOUR CLOUDS HAVE TO BE
CIRRUS, AT LEAST 20K FEET IN THE AIR, WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF
ICE CRYSTALS AND THE SUN HAS TO HIT THE CLOUDS AT PRECISELY 58
DEGREES."

Hm. Perhaps you have seen this one in your Inbox. There's plenty of
discussion on the web. Snopes says it's legit.

In the picture, which I have hosted, we see some clouds up in the blue
sky with no terrain in sight. The red of the rainbow is at the top of
the picure, the blue at the bottom.

Assuming the sun is "behind" and "below" the picture, shouldn't the
blue parts of the rainbow be at the top? Those rays are bent farthest
according to a sketch I just scribbled out which is not hosted. I'd
have to scan it. Higher-energy rays bend farther in refractive media,
is that not true?

I say all this because on sight, it looked fake, like someone had
colored only the white of the clouds with a paint program. It also
looks too linear; the bands are too straight. I thought about it and
detected this inversion of the color positions, which may be a clue.

To see the picture, use

http://users.aol.com/DGoncz/Pictures/Rainbow.jpg

It's real:

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/cha2.htm

(you can also 'make' your own):

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/halfeat.htm

--
Andrew Resnick, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology and Biophysics
Case Western Reserve University

On Mar 19, 12:14 pm, Andy Resnick wrote:
The Dougster wrote:
(snip)
Received from family by email:
CLOUDS HAVE TO BE
CIRRUS, AT LEAST 20K FEET IN THE AIR, WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF
ICE CRYSTALS AND THE SUN HAS TO HIT THE CLOUDS AT PRECISELY 58
DEGREES."

(snip)

It's real:

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/cha2.htm

(you can also 'make' your own):

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/halfeat.htm

Oh! I see it now. The sun was *above* the crystals. In my sketch it
was below them. In this case, of course, the blue rasy would be bent
farthest, and appear just as they do.

Hey, thanks! Much time was saved.

Now if I could just drop that darned FLTMA thingie...

Doug

On Mar 18, 11:12 am, "The Dougster" wrote:
Received from family by email:

"THIS IS A FIRE RAINBOW - THE RAREST OF ALL NATURALLY OCCURING
ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. THE PICTURE WAS CAPTURED THIS WEEK ON THE IDAHO/
WASHINGTON BORDER THE EVENT LASTED ABOUT 1 HOUR CLOUDS HAVE TO BE
CIRRUS, AT LEAST 20K FEET IN THE AIR, WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF
ICE CRYSTALS AND THE SUN HAS TO HIT THE CLOUDS AT PRECISELY 58
DEGREES."

Hm. Perhaps you have seen this one in your Inbox. There's plenty of
discussion on the web. Snopes says it's legit.

In the picture, which I have hosted, we see some clouds up in the blue
sky with no terrain in sight. The red of the rainbow is at the top of
the picure, the blue at the bottom.

Assuming the sun is "behind" and "below" the picture, shouldn't the
blue parts of the rainbow be at the top? Those rays are bent farthest
according to a sketch I just scribbled out which is not hosted. I'd
have to scan it. Higher-energy rays bend farther in refractive media,
is that not true?

I say all this because on sight, it looked fake, like someone had
colored only the white of the clouds with a paint program. It also
looks too linear; the bands are too straight. I thought about it and
detected this inversion of the color positions, which may be a clue.

To see the picture, use

http://users.aol.com/DGoncz/Pictures/Rainbow.jpg

Doug Goncz
Replikon Research
Seven Corners, VA 22044-0394

All color a refracted light implies the source. Good job for real.

A source must be investigated. And the common thing is to first guess
and then expermentally verify.

A sun source must litterally be below the clouds! MY guess.