Photographer: Mindaugas Sukys
Summary Author: Mindaugas Sukys; Jim Foster
The photo above showing a dramatic double rainbow was taken near Kaunas, Lithuania on July 27, 2009. We were driving through a late afternoon summer shower when the Sun broke free of the clouds and these bright bows materialized. The dark strip between the primary and
secondary bow is known as
Alexander's dark band and is an area nearly devoid of light rays. Direct sunlight doesn't reach this region of the sky; the dark band is illuminated only by scattered light from the surfaces of raindrops. Note that the colors are reversed for the two bows since the secondary bow (top) is the result of a second reflection inside each raindrop.
