When I see a rainbow, are the sun & rain in front or in back of me?

Answer 1

On a perfect day , with a very high storm to your front, a very clear sky to your back , the sun about a hour before setting, you could see three complete arcing rainbows stacked one atop the other. They're separate ,but uniform with one another.This is a rarer site, most often you will see 2 or 2 &the legs of the 3rd ... The sun dogs spoken of are best seen on a clear sunny days with very high thin clouds. You can see 4 orb prisms, about the size of a ping-pong ball held out at arms length, 60degrees to the cloud ,to the north south east &west of the sun.

Answer 2

The first two answers are correct for a traditional rainbow. There is another phenomena that occurs when ice crystals are between you and the sun in the upper atmosphere. You may see an aura - a complete circle around the sun, or "sun dogs" (as named by native americans) that can appear almost anywhere in the sky or (spectacularly) on the four "corners" of the aura.

Answer 3

The rain in front and the sun behind your back.This combination will result in the refraction of sunlight through the drops of water that act like a prism,beaming the diffused spectrum back towards your eyes if you stand at the correct angle relative to the falling rain and sunlight....Tom Science 4

Answer 4

I think the sun is behind you. I know the rain is in front of you because it's what you're actually looking at when you see the rainbow.

Answer 5

I'm no science major or anything close to it but I know that the sun is behind you and i think the rain is in front of you.