[Karen W. (OP)]

A week ago I had a awesome experience. I was driving home in my van when I saw a rainbow to the north of me looking onward down the road to my house. As I got closer and took a freeway exit along side the river, I realized I could see the end of the rainbow right in front of me down the road. It was coming down in front of a huge group of river willows along the roadside. As I approached it I realized it covered the whole road as I could see all the colors down low by the ground. Here is where I became baffled, I slowed the car down as I approached as I was in awe at how beautiful it was. I could no longer see the entire arch as It was right there I began to drive about two miles an hour through the rainbow.. It was awesome I could see the colors as my van moved, glowing on the front of my van. I glanced into the rear view mirror and could  then see the colors hitting the side of my van as I passed through it's rays. It was awesome But once I under it I could no longer see it in front of me.. so weird..

Here's the rub.. It was in the space of what may have been 75 feet maybe... As I came out I looked up again towards the north and my home and to my amazement was the rainbow again, only it looked further away.. . Now my question to anyone who may know is. Was I still in in the rainbow How wide or thick in miles do the rays of a rainbow cover? Does that make sense? I stopped the car and could still see it right at the back side of my vehicle. So why was I seeing the one I went through and another ahead as I did not see a double unless that was what the second one, and perhaps it was not visable before then first one.. Were They the same rainbows?  Was I inside of it?? Me is very confused and amazed but me do not understand what happened.

Please help??

[neilep]

WOW !!..what an amazing experience !!....I don't the answers for you but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE RAINBOWS !!!!!

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY !!!!

[Karen W. (OP)]

Neily... You should have seen it it was truely awesome really awesome.. You would have loved it..! I love rainbows too. They baffle me but are incredible to see!!

[lyner]

A rainbow is a phenomenon which produces what is called a virtual image.  For virtual images, your eye sees 'rays' of light which appear to come from an object but they actually originate in a different place.
Sounds daft? Well, the image that you see in a mirror is formed on the surface of the mirror but appears to be somewhere behind the mirror - inside the wall - that's virtual, too.
There are some good pictures in Wikipedia and a diagram showing how the light  bounces around inside each water droplet and then emerges, having been split into its spectral components (dispersed). You see the blue light from a set of drops which are low in the sky and red light from drops that are higher up etc..
You may feel that you are near or far from the actual 'bow' but you can't actually get to it because it always forms the arc of a circle about 84 degrees wide - you are in the centre of this circle. You can never  actually get to 'the end of the rainbow' - as you chase it, it will appear to move away. So no gold, I'm afraid.
BUT - if you have a garden hose on a sunny day, you can make your own , localised, rainbow.  It may take some experimenting but, with your back to the sun and with the spray in the right direction, you can see colours.
I think what Karen W saw was an 'ordinary' rainbow, due to raindrops at a distance, plus the effect of some nearby spray from the road - this would give the impression that part of the bow was near.
You can get some really lovely rainbow effects at times and, because they tend to be very short lived, they are even more impressive.
I bought a 'Rainbow Maker' a while ago, which is a faceted glass 'jewel ', rotated by a small solar-powered motor. You stick it onto a sunny window and it gives moving splashes of spectral colours all over the room. Very pretty.

[Karen W. (OP)]

A rainbow is a phenomenon which produces what is called a virtual image.  For virtual images, your eye sees 'rays' of light which appear to come from an object but they actually originate in a different place.
Sounds daft? Well, the image that you see in a mirror is formed on the surface of the mirror but appears to be somewhere behind the mirror - inside the wall - that's virtual, too.
There are some good pictures in Wikipedia and a diagram showing how the light  bounces around inside each water droplet and then emerges, having been split into its spectral components (dispersed). You see the blue light from a set of drops which are low in the sky and red light from drops that are higher up etc..
You may feel that you are near or far from the actual 'bow' but you can't actually get to it because it always forms the arc of a circle about 84 degrees wide - you are in the centre of this circle. You can never  actually get to 'the end of the rainbow' - as you chase it, it will appear to move away. So no gold, I'm afraid.
BUT - if you have a garden hose on a sunny day, you can make your own , localised, rainbow.  It may take some experimenting but, with your back to the sun and with the spray in the right direction, you can see colours.
I think what Karen W saw was an 'ordinary' rainbow, due to raindrops at a distance, plus the effect of some nearby spray from the road - this would give the impression that part of the bow was near.
You can get some really lovely rainbow effects at times and, because they tend to be very short lived, they are even more impressive.
I bought a 'Rainbow Maker' a while ago, which is a faceted glass 'jewel ', rotated by a small solar-powered motor. You stick it onto a sunny window and it gives moving splashes of spectral colours all over the room. Very pretty.

I seen the rainbow from work. I drove approximately 5 miles and that is when in front of me I saw the rainbow was hitting in front of me near the ground in front of the trees, This was not looking through the mirror! As I approached it I could see colored light across the front of my van, as I was passing through it.. I THEN LOOKED IN THE MIRROR and could see the colors but as I moved further down the road I looked forward again to see Either the same one or another one way ahead over the mountains.. It was really cool.. I really don't get why you say you can't see the end.. Me is confused, what exactly was I seeing if it wasn't the end . I have no doubt it was a rainbow I have seen tons of rainbows, but I could see it down to almost ground level and on my car in the reflection..LOL So what was my car reflecting as I seen the rainbow colors.. I do not understand!

[that mad man]

Cue the X-files music....... []

A rainbow is not in a fixed place in the sky and although you can see the end you cant reach it cos it moves as you move. Something to do with the angle of observation, I think!

Bee

[Karen W. (OP)]

So Please tell me what I was seeing then..LOL AM I loosing my mind???Whatever this was did not move , I passed through it then once through it looked forward to see another or the same even further away then this one had been... LOL I am loosing my mind..WHAT pray tell did I see. I could see the whole arch right up to the end in front of me and the reflection on my car.. so Please explain so I understand if it moves or whatever why did I see that! I am not blind..LOL LOL maybe I am HEE HEE I don't know but need to figure this one out!!LOL

[lyner]

This was not looking through the mirror!

I didn't say that you had to look through a mirror to see a rainbow- I just said that a rainbow is a virtual image - just ;like any images you see in a mirror. It's not where you think you see it is! It's nowhere, actually.

Yes you can see an 'end' to a rainbow, often- I didn't say that either. The end will be where it meets the ground. It is a very weak colour (despite the fact that it can be breathtaking to watch ) so it doesn't show against the ground. Of course, there will be no rainbow where there is no rain (water drops) but you can see a hint of a rainbow against distant hills if rain is falling between you and the hills.
 You can see the end fine but you can't stand at the end- as the mad man says.
And be careful, studying a rainbow whilst you're driving - you may see stars too, if you drive off the road!

[Karen W. (OP)]

This was not looking through the mirror!

I didn't say that you had to look through a mirror to see a rainbow- I just said that a rainbow is a virtual image - just ;like any images you see in a mirror. It's not where you think you see it is! It's nowhere, actually.

Yes you can see an 'end' to a rainbow, often- I didn't say that either. The end will be where it meets the ground. It is a very weak colour (despite the fact that it can be breathtaking to watch ) so it doesn't show against the ground. Of course, there will be no rainbow where there is no rain (water drops) but you can see a hint of a rainbow against distant hills if rain is falling between you and the hills.
 You can see the end fine but you can't stand at the end- as the mad man says.
And be careful, studying a rainbow whilst you're driving - you may see stars too, if you drive off the road!

Thank you you cleared up the first part makes better sense , but why could I see the different colored lights in the front of my car as I approached that point. It makes sense it was kinda a illusion as When I passed the point where I seen it and looked from the side mirror to the front window again, It was well ahead of me as if I had driven through it.. LOL I am sorry I misunderstood your first post,, me wee brain is not quite getting it just yet ! LOL.. I have to think harder on it! LOL!

[lyner]

I think the explanation is that the distance can appear to be more or less anything that your brain wants to perceive it to be (although I have always seen it 'at infinity', myself).
The apparent ' bow' that you see just HAS to be part of a cone - or the light just wouldn't be getting to your eye.
As far as you memory of a particular experience goes -  with the greatest respect, it can be very confusing as to what you actually saw. Unfortunately, it would be virtually impossible to recreate the exact conditions. All I can suggest is that, next time you see a nice substantial rainbow, you try to fit what you are seeing to my idea of an apparent  'cone' of colours. It may make more more sense to you.
Of course, because it has to be with Sun behind you, it makes it harder to suss out the geometry.
Good luck.

[Karen W. (OP)]

Thanks so much for trying to explain and it did go alondg way to doing that I appreciate your time and determination. I will keep this and continue to think about it! Thanks a bunch!

[Seany]

Wow.. I wish I could drive through a rainbow! I've only seen them really far away! Never too close to be even a mile away. Probably about 10-20miles..

[Karen W. (OP)]

Well apparently it was the illusion of driving through one .. weird I don't get it!HEE HEE HEE I am delusional..LOL Just kidding!! My humor s***s..LOL

[Seany]

Nah your humour is GREAT []

[Karen W. (OP)]

You are a nice young man!!! Humor the old women will ya!!! LOL

[Seany]

Odd, huh.. Humour = English.. Humor = American.. I hate those odd spelling differences between English and American! []

[Karen W. (OP)]

The english way looks prettier Like french really!

[Seany]

LOL.. I guess so.. [] Do Americans use a -ze more and english use a -se more?

[lyner]

Well - WE were there first!. . . .
(with the greatest respect)

[Karen W. (OP)]

I don't know Seany..

LOL, LOL