https://www.earthmagazine.org/tags/optics/ Recent content in Optics on EARTH Magazine Hugo en-US American Geosciences Institute. All rights reserved. Mon, 21 Dec 2015 19:08:35 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/rainbows-reclassified/ Mon, 21 Dec 2015 19:08:35 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/rainbows-reclassified/ <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/rainbows-reclassified/CNRM_rainbow_0.jpg" alt="A rainbow in Toulouse, France, after a storm. Credit: Jean Ricard" loading="eager" decoding="async"> <figcaption>A rainbow in Toulouse, France, after a storm. Credit: Jean Ricard</figcaption> </figure> <p>Rainbows — those arches of color that streak across wet skies — are recognizable to almost everyone. Our understanding of rainbows, though, particularly how they form and the diversity of shapes they can take, is still fuzzy.</p>