I took the first of these two photos not long after the local sunset time of 9.02 pm on Stanley Common in Derbyshire, UK, on 17 July 2014 (left). The second photo (right) was taken at 9.22 pm, a few minutes before the last trace of the rainbow evaporated. In the first photo, there is a cloud in front of the rainbow. In the second, the rainbow has persisted after the sun had gone down. There was no rain between me and the sun after it had set. How did the two photographed phenomena occur and is it possible to calculate the height of the rain clouds causing the rainbow from the time difference I鈥檝e given?
Malcolm Muckle, By email, no address supplied
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淪unset rainbow鈥�
Advertisement