Abstract
OCTOBER 28 was a fine day with a brisk westerly wind blowing. At 2 P.M. a splendid well-defined nimbus cloud passed from north-west to north-east, about a mile to the north of this observatory, and rapidly driving away before the wind, left a large tract of cloudless sky behind it, the sun shining at the time. Suddenly at 2.12 P.M. a magnificent rainbow shone out most brilliantly across the blue space, the effect being exceedingly novel and charming. The veil of rain-drops forming the bow was so thin as to be invisible except near the zenith, where there appeared to be a thin cirrus. No rain fell on the observatory, and unfortunately there were no means of determining subsequently the area covered by the shower.
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Whipple, G. An Unusual Rainbow. Nature 18, 696 (1878). https://doi.org/10.1038/018696c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/018696c0
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