Diminutive Disperser Post No. 1 – Not A Rainbow

Sometimes, I chance upon things not big enough to merit one of my patented lengthy posts. Diminutive in nature, I usually set them aside and wait for enough such things to combine into said patented post. 

Disclaimer: I haven’t really patented my posts; that’s just a figure of speech. 

The thing is, I like to combine visual stuff with verbal stuff. The mental effort involved in generating my typical post is beyond what’s I’m capable at the moment, hence, this here diminutive post. As you can guess by the number, there may be more.

That’s the thing I want to share today is . . . well, I don’t know the name. It’s not a rainbow because it’s not bow-shaped. I could make up the name ‘rainband’ to describe what we saw as we were driving on Hwy 19. 

By the way, you can click on the above for a version that is 1,280 pixels wide . . . or, you can click HERE for a full-size 10,245 x 3,441 pixels version (6MB).

Anyway . . . rainband . . . wait; rainband already exists, and it has nothing to do with the diffraction of light through falling rain. 

I need another name . . . flat rainbow? No, still not a bow. See, here’s the problem . . . I’ve read about rainbows and what I saw does not conform with my understanding of the underlying physics for the rainbow phenomenon. It should not be a flat band. A flat band is more what happens when light passes through a dispersive prism.

You can click on the above for a version that is 1,280 pixels wide . . . or, you can click HERE for a full-size 15,185 x 3,446 pixels version (7MB).

I’m not sure of the mechanism that would have a rainband behave like a prism. Perhaps a passing physicist could explain it to me. If it’s not a dispersive prism effect, said physicist could tell me what else it might be. 

That’s Waimea under that band of tinted rain. The spectacle started small and barely noticeable, but then grew to encompass a wide area. At first, I was not sure what I was seeing. It looked like regular sunlight poking through the clouds, but the different colors became more pronounced as I watched.

But, still not a rainbow; not enough visible colors. For that matter, not a prism either for the same reason. Two colors for sure, maybe three, but not seven. 

Here is the final version . . . it was making its way down the side of the mountain and getting wider. I wanted to wait and see if it would reach us, but that’s a number of miles away, and it was moving very slowly. 

You can click on the above for a version that is 1,280 pixels wide . . . or, you can click HERE for a full-size 10,636 x 3,462 pixels version (8MB).

No matter the explanation for the physical phenomenon, it was something I had never seen before, here or anywhere. Coincidentally, we’ve not seen many rainbows. There have been a few, but none worth photographing. 

And you know what? I do have an unrelated thing I wish to briefly mention . . . Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is up with “reaction” videos? I kept seeing them popping up in my YouTube searches and I clicked on one of the links to see if the video was really as stupid as implied by the title . . . 

. . . and it was. It’s literally you watching someone else watching what you could watch on your own so that you can see the reaction of someone else watching what you are watching . . . 

For instance, I like the Ghost in the Shell anime series. I heard they were doing a live action movie and looked for the trailer . . . and found trailer reaction videos. I picked this guy, but there are pages of videos you can choose from, each of different people watching the trailer.

So, I’m scratching my head . . . how have we come to this point? I mean, I can understand sharing something with a friend, discussing a book, a piece of music, and even going to watch a movie together. 

. . . but, a (not-so-) perfect stranger? A bunch of (not-so-) perfect strangers? Why the frell would I be interested in watching these people watch the trailer? I mean, who are these people and why do I care what they think about anything? Sorry . . . ‘think’ may be too generous an assumption . . . why do I care how they react to stuff?

It’s not just trailers . . . go ahead; try it for yourselves. Go to YouTube and do a search for something you are interested in, only add the words “reaction video” after your search.

For instance, searching for “cute cats reaction videos” gets you a bunch of videos of people reacting to watching cute cats videos. 

. . . I’m thinking humans as a species is pretty much doomed. Or, they should be. 

I wish I could see my reader’s faces as they read this post . . . NOT!

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.

Finally, if you interpret anything on this blog as me asking or wanting pity, encouragement, or advice to better my life, know my subtle mix of irony, sarcasm, and humor is blowing right by you.