Can you stand inside a rainbow?

Joolee1980 | 14:02 Fri 14th Oct 2011 | Science

16 Answers

Yes I know it sounds like a ditzy new-agey kind of thing to ask, I've always assumed rainbows aren't fixed in position, they will appear the same distance away as you move won't they? I only ask as I heard someone on a radio phone in insist he and his partner could actually see where a rainbow came to ground and they went and danced around inside it. He reckoned each colour was as wide as his face. But surely this is nonsense?

Wasn't sure whether to put this in Weather but opted for here instead.

Plague genome

Faster than Light.

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Frank97

Well I know you can certainly see where one comes to ground because I was looking at one the other week in the field by me, I don't think you could see it if you were in it though.

joko

a rainbow is an illusion caused by refraction of light and water etc ...it is not an object you can touch, nor is it a light show...clearly these people have no idea of the science behind what causes rainbows and just wanted a bit of attention...haha

Frank97

Perhaps they were taking LSD, then they'd be able to see it alright.

rowanwitch

You can't see the colours in a rainbow but you can be seen to be in one from outside if you just happen to walk into the area where the observer 'sees' it ending

EvianBaby

I thought this was pretty cool

http://www.dailymail....-theres-pot-gold.html

netibiza

I think Mr N and I tried to reach one in a field off a motorway once in France and it kept moving, we were sober at the time! and we had broken down in the van!

BrainsTracy

yes, you can be at the end of someone's rainbow without realising it.

heathfield

In my youth I once took a shortcut across a golf course after a shower of rain. Crossing one of the tees, I was amazed to see every individual drop of water on the grass was reflecting all the colours of a rainbow. To this day I tell myself that I once stood at a rainbow's end.

bibblebub

About 3 years go I was stood on top of a cliff nearby and a rainbow extended down towards the sea less than a mile away (so I was above the end of it).

jomifl

The distance a rainbow appears to be is the distance of the water droplets that are refracting the light. Because the angle subtended by the spectrum is not very large if the refracting droplets are close to you it will seem quite small, certainly not large enough to encompass a person. You can only see a rainbow from the 'outside' of it anyway. Try spraying a mist spray in bright sunlight with the sun behind you and looking towards a dark background and you will get a better understanding of it.