Gregory Coster (Member 64,297) spotted this rainbow reflected in De Witt Lake after a day of stormy weather in Rosendale, New York, US.
As with any rainbow, direct sunlight was shining from behind Gregory onto a shower of rain up ahead of him. The rainbow up in the sky formed as the light shone straight into raindrops, reflecting off the inside surfaces at their backs, and bending as it passed into and out of the drops. The separation of the light into colours happens because different wavelengths bend, of refract, by different degrees. The reflected rainbow, however, consisted of light emerging from other raindrops that wasn’t shining in Gregory’s direction. Normally, the light from these drops would not have been seen by him. It would just have hit the ground instead. Thanks go to the still, mirrored waters of De Witt Lake for giving Gregory two rainbows for the price of one.