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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Supernumerary Rainbows over New Jersey
NASA ^ | 4 Oct, 2026 | Credit & Copyright John Entwistle, Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chiren

Posted on 10/04/2026 10:38:57 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Yes, but can your rainbow do this? After the remnants of Hurricane Florence passed over the Jersey Shore, New Jersey, USA in 2018, the Sun came out in one direction but something quite unusual appeared in the opposite direction: a hall of rainbows. Over the course of the next half hour, to the delight of the photographer and his daughter, vibrant supernumerary rainbows faded in and out, with at least five captured in this featured single shot. Supernumerary rainbows only form when falling water droplets are all nearly the same size and typically less than a millimeter across. Then, sunlight will not only reflect from inside the raindrops, but interfere, a wave phenomenon similar to ripples on a pond when a stone is thrown in. In fact, supernumerary rainbows can only be explained with waves, and their noted existence in the early 1800s was considered early evidence of light's wave nature.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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1 posted on 10/04/2026 10:38:57 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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2 posted on 10/04/2026 10:39:20 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 31R1O; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

3 posted on 10/04/2026 10:40:16 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Pretty neat physics demonstration


4 posted on 10/04/2026 10:48:13 AM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: MtnClimber

Wow. That is impressive!


5 posted on 10/04/2026 11:05:08 AM PDT by rlmorel (Gas prices are Temporary. Communism is Forever. Vote Republican.)
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To: MtnClimber

Beautiful.


6 posted on 10/04/2026 11:09:02 AM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber

bttt


7 posted on 10/04/2026 11:09:39 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: MtnClimber

You got your wave in my particle. You got your particle in my wave.


8 posted on 10/04/2026 11:11:54 AM PDT by thepoodlebites (and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.)
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To: MtnClimber

My daughter in law caught a picture of this a number of years ago where we live. I had never seen anything like it before!


9 posted on 10/04/2026 12:27:06 PM PDT by Grammy
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To: MtnClimber

Rainbow echoes!


10 posted on 10/04/2026 12:32:50 PM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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