All Questions
10
questions
8
votes
1
answer
504
views
Skylight reflection shows birefringence patterns
I noticed that the skylight where I work looked white to me, but its reflection from the tiles below showed a colorful pattern. See the images below, and also a video that shows this effect from ...
- 12.5k
4
votes
2
answers
213
views
Unexpected rainbow in window
Lately, I observed a rainbow-like ring forming in my window during nighttime when the light enters from a street lamp. Interestingly, the sequence of colors in the rainbow seems to be reversed from ...
- 181
7
votes
4
answers
3k
views
What's at the end of a rainbow?
I recently saw a video where someone saw the end of a rainbow as it went into a lake. How is this even possible considering the fact that rainbows have no ends and are circular in nature?
Edit: I ...
0
votes
0
answers
19
views
Why we see only one rainbow at some far away and not like many separated by some distance but making that same angle of 42°? [duplicate]
We know that angle needed to see a rainbow assuming sun is at horizon is 42° but then why will that rainbow formation be unique and why not at that angle many rainbows be form in that angle why just a ...
- 512
5
votes
1
answer
686
views
What causes this weird shape through frosted glass? [closed]
I was looking at my frosted window and found that the light behind it from the neighbors house looked like this:
Behind the frosted glass is simply an ordinary CFL bulb. The frosting pattern on the ...
- 3,187
1
vote
1
answer
236
views
Why light travels through shortest path during refraction?
I know in order to compensate with change in speed but how does Light actually know which path is less dense or more dense?
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
314
views
What was the rainbow like object I saw in ice crystals this morning?
This morning, while driving to work, I saw a rainbow-colored pillar formed by ice crystals frozen out of furnace exhaust from chimneys. It was very broad - a bit wider than my (large) hand at arms ...
8
votes
3
answers
654
views
Why do rainbows always appear to be far away from us?
We know that the single rainbow we see is actually a continuous cone of rainbow. If so, why don't we see that cone instead of a single, far-away rainbow?
27
votes
5
answers
7k
views
Why isn't the sunset/sunrise rainbow-colored
When the sun is rising/setting, it goes through a phase where the light is bending from the atmosphere. I believe this image will explain much better than I ever could.
Now, if light goes through a ...
- 1,083
6
votes
1
answer
6k
views
How does sun light after it has passed window's pane still heat me up?
I believe it is so because most of photons' energy has successfully passed the glass. But is it so? And how can I roughly estimate part of light's energy which will pass obstacles like glass?
And how ...
- 310