Dear Dragonlady

I am always pleased to help my readers gain knowledge through the ASK HOOSIERBOY feature. Here is your question:

What exactly causes a rainbow? I know it has to do with gasses in the atmosphere but don't know how it works. Or if you rather please tell me about the Great Sioux Uprising of 1890.
dragonlady474 | Homepage | 06.28.06 - 8:03 pm | #

Well Dragon, I already said I do not want to talk about the Sioux Uprising, so I guess we will tackle rainbows together.

Rainbows are caused by unicorn tears. That is why they invoke such strong emotions in us. The rainbow has been adopted since the beginning of time as a symbol for hippies, nature lovers, greenies, and ALGOREites. The power of the rainbow can bring peace and harmony to the world. If enough of us put Rainbow Power stickers on the back of our VW bugs and buses, why there would be no more war, no more hunger and no more disease! A flower in the barrel of a gun will bring peace, through the power of the rainbow! Heck, make that a double !!

No, really a rainbow is just light refracting through the prism created by rain. We can see the visible spectrum in the sky. In much the same way you can see a "rainbow" in a puddle of gas or oil on the street, or in the spray of the hose. Below is a picture of a whale creating a rainbow with his blowhole. One interesting fact, you can only see a rainbow in the morning or afternoon when the rays of the sun hit the water at an angle.

No unicorns cried when creating this post, but I did see a cool double rainbow Wednesday night.