Are rainbows tubular? Because if not, why is it possible to see them identically from all angles?

What-A-Mess

Rainbows are not actually "there". It is not as if one could ever touch one. It is simply an optical phenomena caused by the refraction of light by water droplets across a great span. The view of a Rainbow is limited. If one were to move rapidly enough one could go beyond the refraction angle and "lose sight" of the Rainbow. "The rainbow's appearance is caused by dispersion of sunlight as it is refracted by (approximately spherical) raindrops. The light is first refracted as it enters the surface of the raindrop, reflected off the back of the drop, and again refracted as it leaves the drop. The overall effect is that the incoming light is reflected back over a wide range of angles, with the most intense light at an angle of about 40°–42°. This angle is independent of the size of the drop, but does depend on its refractive index. As seawater has a higher refractive index than rain water, the radius of a 'rain'bow in a sea spray is smaller than a true rainbow. This is visible to the naked eye by a misalignment of these bows" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow Oct 27 06, 1:02 PM

TheuntouchablE

no suck thing as a rainbow...its an illusion Oct 28 06, 9:29 AM