An unusual combination of rainbow and light ray lit the skies over Tucson yesterday evening as the storms began to roll in.
We contacted William L. Wolfe, professor emeritus at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences, to ask if the type of rainbow had an official name.
"As far as I know, Wolfe wrote via email, "It is just an unusual one because of the way it is illuminated."
The spotlight-shaped light ray is more mysterious than the double rainbow.
"I do not understand how the sunlight seems to be coming up; it looks like it is reflecting from some type of mirror and spreading out," Wolfe wrote.
Our Facebook post of the photo — captured by reporter Doug Kreutz — includes more reader photos from other angles in the comments:
A little rainbow took the shape of a spotlight this evening. Photo by Doug Kreutz, Arizona Daily Star.
Posted by Arizona Daily Star on Wednesday, July 29, 2015
By investigating the almost magical rainbow you'll have a better appreciation of this spectra-cular phenomenon.
