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sbvp t1_jdchiyk wrote

Its part of the same optical illusion that creates the rainbow you see. The sky is not actually lighter on the inside of the rainbow, it just looks like it is

edit: i added the word “actually” for added clarity.

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BillyGerent t1_jdcsuzz wrote

It actually is brighter. The dark region beyond the rainbow is called Alexander's Band. Good explainer of the physics

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sbvp t1_jdcwx1b wrote

The video confirms what i was saying. I am confused

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BillyGerent t1_jdd01xv wrote

Rainbows are not simple! It says that white sunlight is reflected back from inside/under the rainbow, but not above/outside the rainbow (until we get to the colour-inverted secondary rainbow).

[Edit: deleted repeated info about Alexander's Band]

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