Make a little wonder
Rainbow meadow
Discovery 1 of 4A little light experiment
Find the first rainbow
Put the sun behind you and turn on the mist. Keep the sun fairly low.
You are looking toward the sunNo water droplets yet
Why does this happen?
Water droplets bend and reflect sunlight. Different colors leave at slightly different angles. To see a rainbow, you need sunlight behind you and droplets ahead. The changing arc here is a simplified illustration of viewing geometry, not a precise optical simulation. Switching on the second bow demonstrates its colors; it does not mean every real rainbow has a visible second bow.
Read the explanation from the Met Office