Rare Quadruple Rainbow Caught On Camera

I've seen double rainbows quite often in our area, and once in a while I've caught glimpse of a triple rainbow.  But a quadruple rainbow?  Not until now.

A young woman in New York was waiting for a train when she noticed a ton of color in the sky above her and quickly took out her phone and snapped a photo as she boarded her train.

And I for one am glad she did.

Rainbows form when light is reflected to our eyes from inside falling raindrops. A single reflection inside the drop produces a bright primary rainbow, which appears on the opposite side of the sky from the sun. Two reflections inside the rain drops help form a fainter secondary rainbow, which is found near the primary rainbow.

In short, each extra reflection inside a raindrop produces a different rainbow. Those second, third and fourth reflections dim the ray a little bit more, such that higher order rainbows become a bit fainter and difficult to see.

Which makes this photo even more spectacular!