• Question: How are rainbows formed?

    Asked by maria to Aisling, Colin, Laurence, Ned, Niamh on 1 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Ned Dwyer

      Ned Dwyer answered on 1 Mar 2016:

      The raindrops act like a prism, so when the light from teh sun shines through them, the raindrops break the light up into its colours, Basically the raindrop bends each colour (or wavelength of light) to a different amount, so you can see the colours.

    • Photo: Colin Shirran

      Colin Shirran answered on 2 Mar 2016:

      Despite popular belief, not by the Nyan cat. See Ned’s answer! 🙂

    • Photo: Laurence O'Rourke

      Laurence O'Rourke answered on 2 Mar 2016:

      I’m with Ned on this one. The best view of a rainbow is when you have the sun behind you, a dark cloud in front of you in the distance which is raining. It’s the best view because the colours are more visible against the dark cloud background.

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