homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Weekend


Subscriber content preview

November 30, 2001

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. Do rainbows look the same on other planets in our solar system? Would they look the same to a human astronaut visiting a different star?

    A. The recipe for an Earth rainbow is sunlight interacting with liquid water droplets in the air, creating red at one bow's end, violet at the other, green in the middle, says California Institute of Technology cosmochemist and planetary scientist Geoffrey A. Blake. Ice crystals also scatter light, but not with the same brilliant colors.


     
    . . .


    To read this story in full login or purchase a subscription.



    Previous columns:


    
    Email or user name:
    Password:
     
    Forgot password? Click here.