Anyone else detect eight rainbows in this APOD from September 12, 2007?

This link (from Swift) explains that the off-kilter rainbows are from reflections off the lake behind the rainbows.

The rainbow (1), its double partner (the refraction of the rainbow) (2), their two reflections (4), the refractions from the 2 reflections (6), the reflections of the refractions of the 2 reflections (8)?

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I think the "off-kilter" rainbow is actually due to reflection off the body of water in the foreground. Sunlight hits the water, reflects upwards, and then is refracted, reflected, refracted in the conventional way by more distant raindrops.
A rainbow therefore forms which is generated by a sun shining from below the horizon, and so it comprises more than 180 degrees of arc.

Grant Hutchison

Agree. That's what the diagram and the (awkward) text seem to indicate.

Another way to get my tally of 8 is:

In the air:

The rainbow. (1)
The rainbow's double (the refraction of the rainbow). (2)
The off-kilter rainbow from the sun's reflection. (3)
That off-kilter rainbow's double (the refraction of the rainbow from the sun's reflection). (4)

Reflected in the water:

All 4 of the above. (8)

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Yes, that seems to be the explanation in the text at APOD, and that's one of the reasons I was wondering about the image. When I saw the explanation at the other link, I started to rethink it.

I've held objects up to mirrors, and drew pictures, and thought all sorts of abstract nonsense, still haven't got nowhere O yeah that's how it really started. I counted eight right off, wonder how they missed two.

But the other link saysThat is, on "our" side of the rainbows.
I've also seen the same appearance with a body of water lying between me and the raindrops which form the aberrant bow.

Grant Hutchison

You're absolutely right. I misread that, sorry.

That simplifies things a little

The secondary rainbow is caused by a double reflection inside the raindrops; this is the outermost of the two main rainbows.
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/rainbows/ord2form.htm

I think I can detect just a hint of a supernumerary rainbow near the top of the main 'bow, but I'm not sure. Supernumerary rainbows are caused by interference between the lightwaves, and occur just inside the main 'bow. A rainbow I saw in Cumbria last week had some very noticable supernumerary rings. If there really is a supernumerary rainbow in that picture that makes nine (at least)- but I'm not completely sure it's there.
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/rainbows/supers.htm

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Ah, right. Those drops get their light directly, and give it an extra internal bounce -- not, as I was thinking, from the primary arc. Of course. I curse the committee that designed rainbows!

I so hated optics. Loved physics but got distracted by a new sweetie at the start of optics and just never caught up. But it was a fair trade.

Mmm... sweetie...

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Very pretty! You probably don't get a shot like that very often!

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And the rainbows we see in the water are, of course, not reflections of the rainbows we see in the air.

The "air" rainbows send their colours directly to our eyes. The "water" rainbows are formed by a completely different set of raindrops, invisible to us under direct vision, which send their coloured light in the right direction for us to see it after it has been reflected.

Grant Hutchison

I've sketched sample light paths for the regular and aberrant rainbows here, which might help if compared to the diagram at your link.

The diagram shows:
Body of water in cyan, land in green, little stick observer facing rightwards in black.
The regular rainbow is formed from a ray of sunlight that enters top left, and is reflected (42 degrees) towards the observer's eye by the lower raindrop at right.
The aberrant rainbow is formed from a parallel ray of sunlight that enters lower left, is reflected off the water, and then reflected (42 degrees, again) towards the observer's eye by the upper raindrop at right.
In each case, because this is a vertical section, the raindrops represent the top of the arc of their corresponding rainbows.

Grant Hutchison

Addendum: If you imagine the conventional rainbow forming a circle around the antisolar point, then the "aberrant" rainbow's centre is elevated above the horizon by an angle equal to the antisolar point's angular distance below the horizon. And these angles are the same as the angle between the incoming sunlight and the reflective water surface.

Les Cowley has analysed this image here
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/rainbows/bowim6.htm
he only sees six defnite rainbows, but I am sure there are at least seven, perhaps eight. He doesn't see the possible ninth, supernumary 'bow either.

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The doubles in the fainter pairs are really hard for me to see. I had to actively look for them to see them because they are so faint. The other six rainbows are very easily visible.


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