Wendelstein Shadow and Rainbow

November 05, 2006

Wendelstein-regenbogen-120806 copy

Provided and copyright by: Christoph Ries, Christoph und Gabi
Summary authors & editors: Christoph Ries, Jim Foster

After the passage of a front on August 12, 2006, the sky over Bavaria (Germany) began to clear up and turned into a sunny mood about 30 minutes before sunset. This image was taken looking toward the antisolar point as Mt. Wendelstein's (1,838 m or 6,030 ft) triangular shadow emerged over the Wildalpjoch Mountains (background). Both ends of this amazing rainbow were visible. By clicking on the image, you may be able to detect the faint left portion of the bow. Note that because the image was taken at altitude, the bow's nearly circular composition is observed. From flat terrain, we see rainbows as semi-circles, but when not confined by a horizon, it's easy to see that they're actually rain-circles. The image was stitched from three individual images using "autostitch" and "The Gimp."

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