Rainbows!

Rainbows are one of the most frequently observed atmospheric phenomena, although double rainbows can still get a strong reaction.

Rainbows form when light is refracted and reflected in droplets of water from rain (or some other source) as shown below. The light emerges at angles of up to 42°, so that the primary rainbow forms a circular halo around the antisolar point, at an angle of 42° from it. For the secondary rainbow, light enters the droplet from below and is internally reflected twice, emerging at angles of 51° or more, thus forming a larger halo (with reversed colours) around the antisolar point.

No light is refracted into the region between the primary and secondary rainbow, and this dark region (shown below in a photo by L.T. Hunter) is called Alexander’s band, after Alexander of Aphrodisias, who first discussed it in around 200 AD, in his commentary on Aristotle’s Meteorology.