The Science of Rainbows (how they form after rain)

Melanie Mikecz

We all love beautiful rainbows, that appear when it’s raining and sunny. But what are they, and how much do you know about them? Rainbows are simply a natural physics phenomenon, which happens when sunlight passes through raindrops, to act like tiny prisms, breaking the light into different hues.

Due to England having such changeable weather, we have more rainbows than most countries (they are common during short showers).

Pink is a mix of red and blue on the colour spectrum. These appear at opposite ends of the rainbow, so never touch, which is why you’ll never see a pink rainbow.

Understanding the Colours of the Rainbow

We all know that a rainbow has seven colours, which always appear in the same order. This is because when light passes through water droplets, it bends and separates into wavelengths:

Red has the longest wavelength (through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, which has the shortest wavelength).

If sunlight bends and reflects light twice, you may see a double rainbow, the second one has its colours reversed.

Rainbows only contain pure colours. So that’s why you’ll never see pink, as this is a mix of red (long wavelength) and blue/violet light (shorter wavelength).

Rainbows are actually a full circle, but we only see an arc. Pilots in aeroplanes see them as circles.

Hawaii has the world’s most rainbows, as it has so much sun and rain!

Poetry Break: The Rainbow by Christina Rossetti

Boats sail on the rivers,
And ships sail on the seas;
But clouds that sail across the sky
Are prettier far than these.

There are bridges on the rivers,
As pretty as you please;
But the bow that bridges heaven,
And overtops the trees,
And builds a road from earth to sky,
Is prettier far than these.

Colours (a poem by Christina Rossetti)

Caroline Smith

Christina Rossetti (despite her Italian surname) was born and raised in England (her father Gabriele was a political exile and respected scholar, while her mother Frances encouraged a love of books at home). Born in 1830 in London, she remains one of our most loved poets on the natural world. Including this one:

What is pink? a rose is pink
By a fountain’s brink.
What is red? a poppy’s red
In its barley bed.
What is blue? the sky is blue
Where the clouds float thro’.
What is white? a swan is white
Sailing in the light.
What is yellow? pears are yellow,
Rich and ripe and mellow.
What is green? the grass is green,
With small flowers between.
What is violet? clouds are violet
In the summer twilight.
What is orange? Why, an orange,
Just an orange!

More on Christina Rossetti

Poetry Foundation

Surrounded by creativity and strong ideas, Christina began writing poetry as a young child. If you were raised in a church environment, you likely know the hymn In the Bleak Midwinter (well Christina wrote the lyrics!)

Devoutly religious, Christina lived a reclusive life (refusing two offers of marriage due to differences in faith). Despite her Italian heritage, she was an Anglo-Catholic (not a Roman Catholic). This is not the same as Church of England, more akin to what is now the Episcopal church (where the Catholic faith is followed with Mass, but  do not see the Pope as the head of the church (today many gays migrate over, as it’s kind of ‘Catholicism’, without all the brimstone and hell threats included!)

Christina died age just 64 from breast cancer, alone despite writing some of the best-ever romantic poems on love. She also wrote this lovely poem on the end of life on earth:

Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little, but not for long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that once we shared
Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone.
It’s all part of the master plan
A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go the friends we know.
Laugh at all the things we used to do
Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone.
It’s all part of the master plan
A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go the friends we know.
Laugh at all the things we used to do
Miss me, but let me go.

When I am dead my dearest
Sing no sad songs for me
Plant thou no roses at my head
Nor shady cypress tree

Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet
And if thou wilt remember
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not fear the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on as if in pain;

And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.