No, this is not the name of a goth group from the 1990s.
‘Alexander’s Dark Band’ is in fact an optical phenomenon associated with rainbows. It is the darker-looking region of sky between the arcs of a primary and a secondary rainbow. The band is named after Alexander of Aphrodisias, who first described the phenomenon in around 200AD.

Standing with the sun shining from behind onto a rain shower ahead, a cloudspotter can see a rainbow when the light passes through the raindrops and reflects back off their inside surface. As the it enters and emerges from the droplets, the sunlight is separated into different wavelengths, producing the colours of the rainbow.

Sometimes, a secondary bow is also visible outside the primary one. This is the result of the light passing into the droplets at a different range of angles and being reflected not once but twice off their inside surfaces back towards the cloudspotter. This secondary bow is fainter than the primary one, with a reversed order of colours. Due to the optics*, the rain in the space between the two bows scatters less light towards the cloudspotter than elsewhere, causing it to appear darker. This is Alexander’s Dark Band.

Besides his description of this subtle optical phenomenon, Alexander of Aphrodisias is best known for his commentaries on the philosophy of Aristotle. He did, however, write some of his own original works too. Since one of these was entitled ‘On The Soul’, we wonder whether this early cloudspotter did in fact have a Classical Greek pop group of his own called something like ‘Alexander’s Funky Band’.

* For fuller explanations of this and other optical phenomena of the air, see Les Cowley’s excellent Atmospheric Optics website.

Current Cloud of the Month:
July 2010

Previous Clouds of the Month:
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
Cloud Reflections (December 09)
Numbers in the Clouds (November 09)
Sun Pillar (October 09)
Convection Clouds (September 09)
‘Pile d’Assiettes’ (August 09)
Cumulus congestus (July 09)
‘Asperatus’ (June 09)
Clouds at Night (May 09)
Sundogs (April 09)
Diamond Dust (March 09)
Cloud Streets (February 09)
Crepuscular Rays (Jan 09)
Valley Fog (December 08)
Cloud Shadows (November 08)
Contrails (October 08)
Mamma (September 08)
Kármán Vortex (August 08)
The Summertime Halo (July 08)
The Nor’west Arch (June 08)
Microbursts (May 08)
Irridescent Clouds (April 08)
Northern Lights – Aurora Borealis (March 08)
Ice halos (February 08)
Lightning (January 08)
Roll Cloud (December 07)
Banner Cloud (November 07)
Stratocumulus (October 07)
The Unclassified Cloud (September 07)
Alexander’s Dark Band (August 07)
Fumulus Snail (July 07)
Distrail (June 07)
Altocumulus undulatus (May 07)
Cumulonimbus capillatus (April 07)
Lacunosus (March 07)
Horseshoe Vortex Cloud (February 07)
Jet-Stream Cirrus (Janurary 07)
Altostratus/Altocumulus/Altowhateveritis (December 06)
Anti-Crepuscular Rays (November 06)
Stratocumulus (October 06)
Altocumulus (September ’06)
The Kelvin-Helmholtz Wave Cloud (August ’06)
The ‘Brocken Spectre’ (July ’06)
‘Whale’s Mouth’ (June ’06)
Noctilucent (May ’06)
Cirrus (April ’06)
Cap Cloud (March ’06)
Fallstreak Holes (February ’06)
Nacreous (January ’06)
Cirrostratus (December ’05)
Tuba (November ’05)
Virga (October ’05)
Cirrocumulus (September ’05)
Altostratus (August ’05)
Cumulus (July ’05)
Mamma (June ’05)
Pileus (May ’05)
Lenticularis (April ’05)
Stratus (March ’05)
Cumulonimbus (February ’05)
Contrails (January ’05)


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