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Above the Horizon by Briana Marie Ferrara

1st Place - Natural Category

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School: West Boca High School

Teacher: Maria Aparicio

Above the Horizon While traveling on Southwest Airlines to New York this September, I spotted a rainbow up in the sky. This is made possible when the rays of sunlight hit the droplets of water that are in the air. The sunlight has been refracted as it passes through the raindrop. Refraction is the bending of light as it passes into one medium from another. The colors and specific order that are displayed in the rainbow have to do with how they are bent. Since red has the longest wavelength, it is bent the least. This causes it to be the first color shown on top as portrayed in my picture. Furthermore, violet has the shortest wavelength, so it is bent the most which is why it is on the bottom of the rainbow. Typically, rainbows are seen with two ends touching the ground, but because this photo was taken at an elevated point in an airplane one can see the completed circle. Additionally, in the center of this rainbow was the shadow of the airplane. Shadows form when the light is being blocked by the airplane because light travels in straight lines and cannot bend around objects.

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