42 degrees

[Wayne Lomman]

I am really enjoying the great photos. In winter here we get a light and constant haze of snow in the air some days and rainbows will last for hours. Makes for a bit of a slow paced action free video however...

Does anyone else see 'moon bows' for want of a better term? We see 2 or 3 each winter when the full moon is rising, it is a clear night and there is the snow haze in the air over the mountain but not over us. They look pure white at first glance but if you look closely the colours are there. Cheers

[Jim Koepke]

"The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42."

[edited out a whole lot of lines that wanted to be an image but wasn't]

According to Douglas Adams.

My Uncle John's Biggest Ever Bathroom Reader has a list of things relating to 42 on page 42. It includes the angle at which light reflects off water to create a rainbow is 42 degrees.

Other interesting 42 related items: Fox Muldar lives in apartment #42, There are 42 decks on Enterprise NCC1701-D, there are 42 Oreo cookies in a one pound package and there are 42 dots on a pair of dice.

jtk

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I live a few miles south of the 40 Latitude line. (originally the line between Pa and Md.) We have frequent rainbows here but usually only late afternoon and evening. A morning rainbow would be exceedingly rare, but they do occur. Also rarely are our rainbows the brilliant colors shown in some of your photos. Maybe once a year.

[Yonak Hawkins]

42 was Jackie Robinson's uniform number and the only number retired MLB-wide for all teams.

[kevin nee]

I worked in construction outside 8-10 hours a day. Long rides to and from work. I have seen a s enjoyed many rainbows.
Here is one in my yard family recently.
C9E5353C-5407-46B0-8FB5-E80338D2F048.jpg

[Wayne Lomman]

DSC_0443.jpg
This one was just down the road from my place. Fairly typical weather for us - crystal clear, cold and snow clouds over the Great Western Tiers. Cheers

[John K Jordan]

DSC_0443.jpg
This one was just down the road from my place. Fairly typical weather for us - crystal clear, cold and snow clouds over the Great Western Tiers. Cheers

That's beautiful country!

JKJ

[Steve Demuth]

42 degrees latitude just makes it more likely that rainbows will occur. Here is a link to the article that caught my attention. It also explains the physics. Cheers

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-...mania/10957924

What really makes Tasmania special is not that it's 42 degrees South, but that it's the Southernmost part of Australia (and that it is relatively rainy compared to much of Australia). You need three things to get a rainbow: rain actively in some quarter of the sky, the sun above the horizon in the opposite quarter of the sky and below 53 or so degrees altitude, and an observer between the two with the sun roughly at his or her back. The further South or North you go, the larger fraction of time the sun spends below 50 degrees, so the more time you satisfy the the second requirement. If there were a big rainy island South of Tasmania at 55S latitude, it would experience more rainbows than Tasmania.

[Wayne Lomman]

My father flew Catalina flying boats in World War 2, patrolling for submarines and then repatriation POWs. He never spoke about his service much but I do recall him talking about seeing full-circle rainbows from the air. Being a Catalina, 'from the air' was probably skimming the waves. Has anyone else seen a rainbow like this or is my recollection getting a bit fanciful after 50 years or so? Cheers

[John K Jordan]

My father flew Catalina flying boats in World War 2, patrolling for submarines and then repatriation POWs. He never spoke about his service much but I do recall him talking about seeing full-circle rainbows from the air. Being a Catalina, 'from the air' was probably skimming the waves. Has anyone else seen a rainbow like this or is my recollection getting a bit fanciful after 50 years or so? Cheers

I saw one from the air when the sun was overhead but it was from higher than skimming. There was a shadow of the airplane in the center. I even took a photo but I'd have to hunt for it - I must have forgotten to put it in my Rainbows folder. But actually, all rainbows would be circles if there was no ground and the water and sun was it the right place.

You can generate a close circle rainbow spraying water mist with the sun behind.

[Yonak Hawkins]

What really makes Tasmania special is not that it's 42 degrees South, but that . . . .

..A reasoned response.