Can you remember the last time you saw a rainbow? When growing up we were always told to make a wish because there was a pocket full of gold at the end of the rainbow. Therefore, when we saw a rainbow, we would all scream to the heavens, “money, money, money.”  A rainbow is formed by refracted or bent sun rays that strike drops of water.  It produces an arch of brilliant colors which appear in the sky when the sun shines after a shower or rain.   It forms in that part of the sky opposite the sun.  If the rain has been heavy, the bow may spread all the way across the sky, and its two ends seem to rest on the earth below.  The reflection and refraction of the sun’s rays as they fall on drops of rain cause this interesting natural phenomenon.  “All the colors of the rainbow” is an expression which means a brilliant display of color.  Rainbows give off seven colors – violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.  When you see a rainbow, you only see these colors that bend downward in your direction.  A complete rainbow contains several bows.  The faint bow on the outside is called the secondary bow.  The inner and brighter bow is called the primary bow.  Supernumerary bows lie just inside the primary bow and run parallel to it.  Rainbows are often observed in the spray that flies from a garden hose or a sprinkler.  So, if you want to make your own rainbow, turn on the garden hose and shine it toward the sun and everyone holler, “money, money, money.”  

Occasionally, the light of the moon forms a rainbow which is called a lunar rainbow.  The feebleness of the light paints the glowing bow in faint colors, which are difficult to observe.  The moon’s rainbow differs from the sun’s only in the intensity of the color.  The rainbow is known in many different names.  Italians call it “the flashing arch.”  The North African tribes greet the rainbow as the “bride of the rain.”  In the various languages of central Europe, the rainbow is called “the arch of Saint Martin,” “the bridge of the Holy Spirit,” “the Crown of Saint Bernard,” and “the girdle of God.”  

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