Australian rescue helicopter pilot wows with ‘incredible truth’ about rainbows: ‘They’re not what you think they are’
- Pilot reveals rainbows are full circles
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Many Australians have been left ‘amazed’ after learning a little-known fact about rainbows.
It’s hard not to love the colourful weather phenomenon but many don’t know that the rainbow stretches beyond the semi-circle arch we see from the ground.
Toll Ambulance Rescue aircrew officer Steve explained rainbows are actually a full circle and can only be seen in their entirety from the sky.
He shared a breathtaking image showing a rainbow from above in its full glory wowing thousands.
‘Did you know that rainbows are actually a full circle? We usually see only an arch because the ground and horizon block the rest of the circle,’ the image was captioned in a Facebook post.
Thousands were shocked to learn rainbows form in a full circle. They can only be seen in their entirety from the sky
‘But from up in the sky, like Aircrew Officer Steve, you can see the whole thing!’
A rainbow is an optical illusion formed when sunlight hits rain or water droplets at a precise angle of 42 degrees according to National Geographic.
All rainbows are full circles with the centre called the antisolar point and can only be viewed as a whole from above.
Everyone on the ground will see a different view of a rainbow depending on where they are. Each person will have a different antisolar point and horizon.
Viewers were astonished by pilot Steve’s stunning photo and fun rainbow fact.
‘Very interesting indeed. Something I never knew. Amazing photos,’ one woman replied.
‘Yep, we were in a hot air balloon in Northam and saw a round rainbow. I was amazed,’ a second said.
‘So no pot of gold? Would rather the full beautiful circle anyway. So very pretty,’ a third agreed while a fourth simply said: ‘Amazing!’.
‘I saw this from an aeroplane once! It was crazy cool,’ another added.
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