Answer to Question 1
ANSWER: The corona is due to diffraction of lightthe bending of light as it passes around objects. To understand the corona, imagine water waves moving around a small stone in a pond. As the waves spread around the stone, the trough of one wave may meet the crest of another wave. This situation results in the waves canceling each other, thus producing calm water. (This is known as destructive interference.) Where two crests come together (constructive interference), they produce a much larger wave. The same thing happens when light passes around tiny cloud droplets. Where light waves constructively interfere, we see bright light; where destructive interference occurs, we see darkness.
Answer to Question 2
ANSWER: As you look at a rainbow, keep in mind that only one ray of light is able to enter your eye from each drop. Every time you move, whether it be up, down, or sideways, the rainbow moves with you. The reason why this happens is that, with every movement, light from different raindrops enters your eye. The bow you see is not exactly the same rainbow that the person standing next to you sees. In effect, each of us has a personal rainbow to ponder and enjoy
Topography of the Moon
Small Feline
Synchronous Rotation of the Moon
An 1827 portrait by George Catlin of Eeh-Nis-Kin (Crystal Stone), a Blackfoot woman.
A cutaway of a small block Chevrolet V-8 showing the passage from the cylinder head through the ...
Small Plates