Article
Rainbows in the Grass. I. External Reflection Rainbows from Pendant Droplets
Applied Optics
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2008
Disciplines
Abstract
In the mid-morning on a sunny day one can sometimes see glare spots associated with uncolored "rainbow" (i.e., fold) caustics due to the sunlight reflected from the surface of dew or guttation drops. We show that these dewdrop reflection rainbows are due to places on the droplet (i.e., from an "inflection circle") where its Gaussian curvature becomes zero. We work out the theory of such caustics with horizontally incident light and present a comparison of the theory to measurements made in the laboratory. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America
DOI
10.1364/AO.47.00H203
Version
Publisher's PDF
Publisher's Statement
This paper was published in Applied Optics and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ao/abstract.cfm?URI=ao-47-34-H203. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law.
Citation Information
Lock, James A., Charles L. Adler, and Richard W. Fleet. "Rainbows in the Grass. I. External Reflection Rainbows from Pendant Droplets." Applied Optics 47 (2008): H203-H213.