FUN is an 8-year-old thumping AI. The time was 8:09 PM. Sunset was 8:03 PM. ChatGPT said “a rainbow after sunset” violates the 42° optical laws for refraction and dispersion through raindrops — and is therefore impossible.
See if you can figure out what our 8 1/2 year-old figured out? 🫶🏼
When fed this additional information, AI admitted the error of its ways and said, “perhaps theoretically it would then be possible, though unlikely.” 😉
It happened.
Sunset in New Mexico, just a bit later. It’s just a cool planet, with an amazing Artist.
Here’s the other half of the “impossible” rainbow.
Good to “know” you Ernesto Sirolli.
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Michael H Peters I thought that the answer could be found in the 8 minutes it takes for the light to travel from the Sun to Earth. But AI says:”When the Sun sets below the horizon, you continue to see sunlight for a brief period, but not because of the 8-minute delay in the light reaching us. Rather, this phenomenon is due to the refraction of light in Earth’s atmosphere. The atmosphere bends the light from the Sun, allowing us to see it even after it has technically set below the horizon.” So you took a picture of a refracted rainbow eh eh!
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Michael H Peters
AI: “In theory, it is possible, though very rare, for a rainbow to occur just after sunset if extremely bright clouds near the horizon reflect enough sunlight. Here’s how it could happen:
1. **Brightly Lit Clouds**: If clouds near the horizon are high enough and reflect a significant amount of sunlight even after the sun has set, they can act as a secondary light source. This light could then illuminate rain droplets in the atmosphere.
2. **Light Scattering**: For a rainbow to form under these conditions, the scattered light from the brightly lit clouds would need to be intense enough and come from the right angle. The reflected light would have to hit rain droplets at approximately the 42° angle needed to create the rainbow effect.
3. **Visibility**: Such a rainbow would likely be faint and short-lived because the intensity of light from reflected sunlight is much weaker than direct sunlight. The conditions would need to be just right: bright, reflective clouds and rain droplets in the correct position relative to the observer.
While this scenario is highly unlikely and requires very specific conditions, it is theoretically possible.”
Leave it to my 8-year-old to actually see such a thing 🙂
