h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

They say that if you see a rainbow from an aeroplane it's circular - so long as the plane is high enough.

It's true - I've seen one like that.

Must be twice as good as the usual semi-circle.

It's funny that while h2g2 has 6,000(ish) researchers, I keep bumping into the same ones in different forums - kinda feel at home already.

Coincidence? Or am I just stalking you?

Well if it's not coincidence then there are other stalking me too. Are you trying to make me paranoid or something?

While your here though (to use an all too often used phrase to tekkie support people) I've a user page (P43543) which I'm not sure whether or not it goes against your advertising policy - it was only meant to be a recommendation. Please delete the last part if you don't like it.

I've not met any of you.

Well, presuming you don't work there or own it, a personal recommendation is perfectly acceptable (and, indeed, encouraged). Don't forget - if people disagree, they'll soon tell you.

I've never seen a rainbow from a plane before, but I have seen a circular rainbow. It was right around the sun.

They are not actually rainbows, but I know what you mean. You get one around the moon as well. They both require thin clouds. If you wish to see a circular rainbow get as high as you can with a hosepipe on a sunny day and spray. Steps are ok but a fire station tower is better.

What are they if they aren't rainbows? Or do you just mean that it was not rain that 'made' them?

'Get high as you can'? I'm afraid that, considering the topic of conversation, that is maybe a bad choice of words. Get high as a kite and I'm sure rainbows is not all you'll see!

But, yes, the key is that that center point of the 'rainbow' is the light source itself - if, indeed there is such a thing as a moon rainbow - and I've no reason to believe that there isn't, then 'around the moon' is where you'll see it!

What I mean is they have another name other than rainbows, which escapes me.The difference is whether you are facing the sun or not. I live by the coast so you see them quite a lot where the thin cloud sits above the coast-line on sunny days. They look much better if you are higher than a kite or paraglider. The circle/ark will still be at 22 degrees (angular not centigrade) and requires water droplets in both cases. Has anyone ever noticed a second rainbow, reversed and at about 31 deg.?

Oh, i see what you mean. It probably would "look much better if you are higher than a kite" - everything else always does.

I've seen 'a second rainbow', only twice though. It's cool - red through purple and then purple through red.

The name you and Pink are looking for is "Sun-Dogs" or "Moon-Dogs"

It comes from the Greek Legends about a 5-legged hound that lived on the sun. His coat was made of sulpher, and he shot robotic killer bees out of his eye sockets.
Sorry - thats a lie. I don't know where the name comes from, but they _ are_ called sun-dogs. You can see one in the movie "The Dear-Hunter" - there's one in the sky one day when the Robert De Niro character comes out of work.

LOL

Thanks for the info Water-Eat. I'll have to check out "The Dear-Hunter" some time.

I think there is no reason why there shouldn't BE a rainbow made out of MoonLight. But as the MoonLight is much less intensive than SunLight (several thousand times), we poor humans are not able to see it. Of course you would have to stand with your back to the moon and have the rain (or what WaterDropProducingEvent ever) in front of you.

Moonlight ... ummmm ... what? 'Moon light' is just sun light reflected off the moon. And I don't know about anyone else, but I can see it.

sure, but as the moon is not a mirror but a piece of rock, dust
ice and nasa equipment, it reflects just a small amount of the
sunlight. So do the raindrops so that the intensity of a rainbow is
less than the intensity of the sun, and the intensity of a "Moonrainbow"
is less than the intensity of the "moonlight" which is much less
intensive than sunlight which after all makes it very weak, so that
Sir Newtons fabulous Assistant could not sse it..

Talk about intense. As far as I know you only get moondogs,(see above) not propper moonbows. These have a lot less colour. i.e. none as they only stimulate the rods, not the cones.
;~]

A very big difference between MoonDogs and MoonBows is that you see the first when you are looking in direction of the moon and the second when you are looking away from the moon.
(apart from intense (Thanks ))