Have you ever seen a double (or triple) rainbow?

Answer 1

"Yes, triple rainbows exist. Since you have seen double rainbows, you know that the second one arches over the first one, and the colors are reversed. With a triple rainbow, the third one arches over the second one, and the colors are reversed again - back in their familiar order."t's begin with a common rainbow. When a beam of sunlight, which contains all colors, enters a raindrop at an angle, the sunlight is separated into a spectrum of colors, each traveling in slightly different direction than the incident beam. That spreading of light into its color components is called dispersion. After single reflection from the back surface of the droplet, the different color components again change the direction as they re-enter the air, and spread even more, giving rise to observed rainbow. Since the light was reflected only once inside the raindrop, the rainbow is called a primary (k=1) rainbow. However, while most of the light re-enters the air, a remainder undergoes a second reflection inside the raindrop before re-entering the air and forming a secondary (k=2) rainbow occasionally visible above the primary rainbow. The rainbows would be completely round if the ground were not in the way (seen from an airplane near mid-day, the bows form complete concentric circles.)

Since a fraction of light always undergoes additional internal reflection instead of re-entering the air, a single drop of water is theoretically capable of giving an infinite number of rainbows. But the higher the order, the fainter the rainbow. Now, rainbows up to k=13 (i.e. with light reflecting 13 times inside the drop before re-entering the air) have been observed from a single drop of water suspended from the end of a wire in the lab. And rainbows up to k=19 have been observed in thin, falling streams of water, again in the lab.

But the rainbows with k=3 (Marilyn's triple rainbow) and beyond are observed only in lab. To my knowledge they have never been observed outdoors. Here's why:

You'd see the primary and secondary rainbow only if the Sun is behind your. But the third (k=3) and fourth (k=4) rainbows are formed behind your back, the fourth just above the third. You'll never see them, as they are much fainter than the first two, and you'd have to look in the direction of the Sun, where a glare from the sunlight will make an observation impossible. The fifth (k=5) and sixth (k=6) rainbows form again in front of you, the fifth just below the secondary and partially overlapping it, and the sixth below the primary. But again, you'll never observe them outdoors, since the fifth one is only 10% as bright as the primary, and the sixth only 8% as bright as the primary. Note that the relatively common secondary rainbow (k=2) is about 43% as bright as the primary, yet it is hard to see it most of the time. See the excellent paper by Jearl D. Walker, American Journal of Physics, Vol. 44, No. 5 (May 1976), pp. 421-433 for details of theory and experiment.

I'd like to mention here another beautiful and striking rainbow phenomenon. If you are very lucky, you might happen to witness several faint rainbows on the inner side of the regular primary rainbow (k=1), and if you are extremely lucky, also inside the secondary (k=2) rainbow. They are slightly detached and have pastel color bands that do not fit the usual pattern. They are known as supernumerary rainbows, and their very existence was historically a first indication of the wave nature of light

Answer 2

I have seen a double rainbow before,but not a triple.

Answer 3

Double rainbows many times, a triple rainbow maybe 3 times in my life....

Answer 4

I've seen a double a few times but never a triple...unless I was looking in the mirror after having too much to drink!

Answer 5

Double rainbow.

Answer 6

I've seen a double rainbow. I have a picture of it.

Answer 7

Have seen both. Also witnessed a full circle rainbow while I was on the ground looking up. So did others in my immediate area. It got really cool when a bolt of lightening burst thru the center of it like fireworks. Unreal! And no one had a camera.

Answer 8

Yes,it was all the colours of the rainbow!!!

Doubles loads.
Triple just the once.

Answer 9

I saw a double and a half rainbow, hiking in New Hampshire, and in Tennessee. It was by a waterfall in a valley on a super sunny day. Totally awesome!

Answer 10

I have seen a double.