Morning Rainbow and Rays

Photographer: Carl Crumley
Summary Author: Carl Crumley; Jim Foster

 This photo showing a glorious, morning rainbow, arching above Old Glory, was captured at Pittsford, New York on September 16, 2009. A wan secondary rainbow is also visible. Additionally, faint anticrepuscular rays can also be made out -- they look sort of like spokes on a rainbow wheel. These rays originate on the opposite horizon, where the Sun is just rising, and traverse the entire sky, converging at the antisolar point (opposite the Sun). Alexander's dark band (a band of feebly scattered sunlight between the primary and secondary bows) is evident near the horizon.
 
Photo details: Canon EOS 5D camera; 24-105L lens; 3 exposures stitched into a panorama by Photoshop CS4.