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| | [[Image:Rainbow.jpg|thumb|400px|right|A rainbow, seen from the island of Curaçao. Note: the bright spot is a clearing in the clouds; the sun is ''behind'' the photographer.]] | | [[Image:Rainbow.jpg|thumb|400px|right|A rainbow, seen from the island of Curaçao. Note: the bright spot is a clearing in the clouds; the sun is ''behind'' the photographer.]] |
| − | A '''rainbow''' is a circular [[color]] [[spectrum]] appearing in the [[sky]] due to the result of [[refraction]] and multiple [[reflection]]s of [[sunlight]] in droplets of [[water]]. Though appearing semicircular from the ground, rainbows are actually circular. Rainbows appear when water droplets are lit by direct sunlight, a condition that rarely occurs ''during'' a [[storm]], because the [[cloud]]s block the [[sun]]. Rainbows are frequently seen ''after'' a storm, when the falling rain has moved into the distance and the sun is roughly behind the observer when the observer is facing the patch of rain. | + | A '''rainbow''' is an artistic circular [[color]] [[spectrum]] appearing in the [[sky]], predicted by the [[Bible]] as a sign from [[God]] after the [[Great Flood]]. According to [[[[Genesis_9-16_(Translated)#Chapter_9|Genesis 9:11-17]], [[God]] told [[Noah]] that the rainbow would remind God and Mankind of God's promise never to flood the [[Earth]] again.<ref>Genesis 9:11-17, "And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh."</ref> |
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| − | According to [[Genesis]] 9:11-17, after the [[Great Flood|Flood]] [[God]] told [[Noah]] that henceforth the rainbow would remind God and Mankind of God's promise never to flood the [[Earth]] again.<ref>Genesis 9:11-17, "And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh."</ref> [[Physics]] can explain the appearance of rainbows accurately as the result of refraction and multiple reflections of sunlight in droplets of water, but not the feelings of [[awe]] and [[spirituality]] rainbows inspire, as they did in [[William Wordsworth]] when he wrote:
| + | Physicists describe rainbows based on the [[refraction]] and multiple [[reflection]]s of sunlight in droplets of [[water]]. Though appearing semicircular from the ground, rainbows are actually circular. Rainbows appear when water droplets are lit by direct sunlight, a condition that rarely occurs ''during'' a [[storm]], because the [[cloud]]s block the [[sun]]. Rainbows are frequently seen ''after'' a storm, when the falling rain has moved into the distance and the sun is roughly behind the observer when the observer is facing the patch of rain. |
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| | + | [[Physics]] cannot explain the feelings of [[awe]] and [[spirituality]] rainbows inspire, as they did in [[William Wordsworth]] when he wrote: |
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| | ''My heart leaps up when I behold''<br> | | ''My heart leaps up when I behold''<br> |