Everybody should see a rainbow at least once in a lifetime. Usually we see it when it’s rainy and sunny at the same time. That’s because we see rainbows when light is refracted and reflected by water droplets. Refraction is when a light beam bends as it passes from one material to another. In this case, light is refracting between air and droplets of water. Since each color refracts by a different amount, the colors separate, forming a rainbow – the outer edge is red and the inner one is violet. The specific coloration and width of rainbows are always different, depending on weather conditions and the position of the Sun.
In the Arctic regions, a “white” rainbow can be found. This is due to low temperature and therefore the small size of water droplets in clouds. Because of the small size of the water droplets, reflection of light plays a bigger part than refraction, which is why we don’t see the spectrum of colors. Usually, the polar rainbow is wide and nearly white (sometimes it might have a red brim). We were lucky to see a “white” rainbow last ship’s night!
I’ll end with a little science trick from my childhood (when I was 6 years old, I thought it was magic). You can make your own “pocket rainbow.” You need only sunlight and a crystal glass. Catch sunlight through the side of an empty glass, and then look into the glass to see the rainbow. In this case, the glass is acting like a prism, refracting (or bending) the light (in this case, even though the light is refracting, you won’t see the full color spectrum).
– Irina Larkina
Is the arctic the only place where you can find a “white rainbow?”
Hi Stephanie, white rainbows occur in cold temperatures, so both the Arctic and the Antarctic. In warmer regions with more humidity and larger water droplets, refraction effects are larger which is why we normally see the colorful rainbows. They are both beautiful though!
Who or what inspired you to go out there? With all the danger you may face what could have possibly influenced your actions? Your dedication impresses me a great deal. So please write me back when you can 🙂 thanks.
P.S , KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
Hi Damari, thank you so much for the kind note! I have always loved to explore, whether it was in my neighborhood or around the world. So this was such an incredible and rare opportunity, that I did not even hesitate. I think being able to see the world in a whole new way, from a brand new viewpoint, is awesome, and to learn more about it from all of these amazing scientists is just the icing on a very cool cake! About the safety issue, this ship is very safe, and otherwise you just have to be smart, about wearing the right clothes for the weather, and watching out for polar bears if you’re on the ice!
Great lesson on rainbows. Can’t wait for a sunny day to try the pocket rainbow. Thanks for sharing! Really great picture!
I told Irina you would be going out to try a pocket rainbow, and we both love that you’re going to try it! I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
The rainbow is beautiful! Would you say this is the most naturally beautiful thing you’ve seen in your trips? Cause it looks pretty awesome to me 🙂
Dear Marangelie, that is a hard thing to say, because everything in nature up here is spectacular and unique and beautiful. Irina said she can’t choose, because she has also seen such beautiful sights like polar bears and seals and ice. But it was definitely one of the highlights of her trip!
You also talk about these microscopic organisms being used to study past oceans. About how long ago could these tiny creatures have been around?
Dear Vilanea, I spoke with the scientist who works in this area, and we can trace the existence of these microscopic organisms back 550 million years (to the late Precambrian) through biostratigraphy (looking at the fossil content in sedimentary layers). So, a LONG time! Through time, the shape and size have changed quite a lot, so the species that we see now did not exist at that time.
Is it common to to see white rainbows in the Artic?
Hi Alexis, I don’t think it is very common because it is very cloudy during the summer, and very dark during the winter. We have only had a couple semi-sunny days, so it’s lucky that we saw one here. In Antarctica, you might have a better chance because there are more sunny days in Antarctica than in the Arctic.
I also think that the trick from your childhood when you was 6 years old was very creative. I also think that the picture is amazing and that I wish I could go up there sometime to observe the white rainbow.
Hi Alexis, I showed Irina your comment and she said it was beautiful, and she hopes you get to see one someday too. She also said to think back to any tricks you learned as a child, and to share those with others, they may find your trick as interesting as you find my rainbow trick!
This is really cool! Before reading this post I thought there was only One type of rainbow. How often do you see these white rainbows?
Hi Isaiah, we have seen these rainbows only once I think during this expedition, because we have so rarely seen the Sun come out from behind all the clouds. So even though they are only in the polar regions, they are still rare even if you’re here! But Irina said that the white rainbow lasted for over 8 hours in the sky.
What influenced you to base your article on artic rainbows, how did this experience impact your journey?
Dear Erica, Irina said that she chose to write about the white rainbow because it was her first time seeing one, and it was exciting! She is a meteorologist, so it was one of the greatest things she said she could’ve seen – it was like as exciting as it would be for a biologist to see her first polar bear!
If this type of rainbow is called a white rainbow what would the rainbow we see everyday be called ? A color rainbow ? Also how often do you see a white rainbow ?
Hi Jeyny, I think we what would normally think of as a rainbow is called just that. The white rainbow is rare, even in the Arctic, because it was always cloudy, and it was so uncommon to have one of those partly cloudy, partly sunny days that you need in order to see a rainbow.
Hi Lindsay! How often do you see rainbows out in the Arctic?
Hi Stephanie, rainbows in the Arctic are very rare, because you have to have those partly sunny partly cloudy/rainy days, and we have mainly had clouds!
Im a student from ms.gilberts class and my question is How are the mediterranean Sea and there artics sea similar?
Hi Ashley, the Mediterranean Sea and the Arctic are different in many ways, including density, salinity, currents, and in other chemical components like oxygen. But even those things depend on the depth of the water and where it comes from, because currents lead water from one place to another. Densities near the surface are probably similar because Mediterranean surface waters are warmer (warm water is less dense than cold), but Arctic surface waters are fresher (freshwater is less dense than saltwater).
Hi I’m Ernalyn from Ms.Gilbert class I would like to know…. How will conditions in the Arctic affect human life?
Hi Ernalyn, there are multiple ways that the Arctic affects life on Earth. Firstly, there are the species there that depend on the ice for survival, like polar bears, seals, and walruses. Without ice, they will have a harder and harder time surviving. For humans, the Arctic (and Antarctic), are kind of like indicators that climate conditions are changing, because we see the changes in ice levels. Some effects include sea level rise (this is from glacier ice off of land, not sea ice on the ocean), which will affect coastal regions, and also weather patterns may strengthen, which would affect us in the way of storms or food supply.
What is the size of the Arctic region and the Arctic Ocean?
Dear Ernalyn, it depends actually on what you mean by “Arctic,” because there is the Arctic Ocean, then there is the general term “arctic,” which refers to any place that has average temperatures below freezing. That means that some places in Canada and Russia are actually “arctic!”
would you say the GPS Trimble 5700 is a major eqiupment you use?
Hi Jorge, that piece of equipment is a pretty specialized unit that serves the purpose that the scientists explained in the article. To find out more, you would have to also combine observations and data from other equipment.
Do sunspots cause climate change?
Hi Ernalyn, sunspots can impact the weather, but have not been shown to influence the climate – so you have to remember that there is a difference between the terms weather and climate. Weather refers to small scale meteorological phenomena that happen on very short time scales, like hours. Climate refers to really large scale meteorological phenomena that occur on large time scales, like decades.