4 A rainbow is a multicolored arc or curved line in the sky Rainbows appear in the part of the sky opposite the Sun They are usually seen in the early morning or late afternoon A rainbow is really a full circle of light Since most people view a rainbow while stand ing on the ground COLORS IN THE SKY The Sun must be at your back in order for you to view a rainbow
5 however they only see half of the circle of the rainbow in the sky People have been fascinated by rainbows for thousands of years Many different groups have made up myths or stories about them In Ireland it is said that there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow In the mythology of northern Europe a rainbow bridge con nects the land of humans with Asgard where the gods live Many people see rainbows as a hopeful sign because they are often seen after a storm has passed Mythology is the collection of stories about the gods and heroes of a particular people VOCABULARY Every time you move your vision of the rainbow moves too You can never reach the end
6 The brightest and most common type of rainbow is called a primary bow From outside to inside the colors of a primary rainbow are red orange yellow green blue indigo and violet A double rainbow is where a second much fainter Multiple rainbows follow the same curve as the primary rainbow below them COLORS OF THE RAINBOW
7 arc can be seen outside of the primary arc Very rarely it is possible to see up to four rainbows but the last two are very faint The colors in the secondary bow appear in the opposite order of the colors in the pri mary bow The dark unlit sky between the first arc and the second arc is called Alexander’s band This area was named for Alexander of Aphrodisias who first described it 1,800 years ago Primary means first to develop or most important VOCABULARY This diagram shows the flipped or opposite color order that can be seen in a secondary rainbow
