VIDEO: Footage captures rare sighting of 360 degree rainbow
By Press Association
November 23, 2016, 4:30 pm
A VERY rare 360-degree rainbow was spotted in Portsmouth, and we’ve got the video for you to enjoy it too – take a look.
Rainbows that come full circle like this are rare because they can only be seen from a great height like a plane or skyscraper – here it was seen from Emirates Spinnaker Tower, an observation tower – and the sun needs to be at a particularly low angle.
Rainbows are created by the reflection and refraction of light through water droplets in the air. This causes all the colours of the visible spectrum of light to appear to those standing at the right angle. At ground level rainbows usually appear as a semi circle as it is obscured by the horizon.
The video from Portsmouth was captured by Bernie Welch, technical manager at the skyscraper.
