A beautiful pink rainbow glowed in a magnificent arc seen high over places such as Bristol, Chew Magna, Taunton and Bridgwater. There was even a glimpse of a double pink rainbow, “Fabulous pink sky, double rainbow,” wrote Mike Rigby at Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, on Twitter. The pink rainbow happened when the sun was red as it sunk below the horizon. At sunset the sunlight has to pass through a much thicker atmosphere, about 40 times as much atmosphere as when the sun is overhead. That thicker atmosphere means that the rays of sunlight hit more air molecules and dust, which scatter the shorter wavelengths of light and…

Source: The Times August 09, 2017 23:04 UTC