A Short Tale of Alexander's Band

Late afternoon in Ottawa, the low sun and rain cast an unusual shine on the cityscape. Despite the drizzle, something remarkable happened; a warm, inviting light beautified even the city's most ordinary buildings. Nature had decided to paint a different picture for a moment, and I was lucky enough to witness it through my car's windscreen on my way home.

I often look for small moments of beauty in my daily life, and this was a memorable example. The gray drizzle and the last rays of sunshine highlighted Ottawa as a city of warmth and invitation. But many people didn't notice the sudden change and walked by with turned-up collars and their heads bent down to keep their faces dry. Someone honked a horn in frustration at the slow traffic, fearing he might miss sports hour on television. But for me, it was one of those moments when I fully appreciated the beauty in the everyday.

And this light was only the ouverture since a magnificent rainbow began to form only minutes later. Not just one, but two rainbows graced the sky, side by side. I do not often marvel at nature's wonder while stuck in traffic in the middle of a capital city.

Alexander’s band

I witnessed a rainbow phenomenon known as "Alexander's Band." Before you get any ideas, it’s named after a different Alexander - Alexander of Aphrodisias, an ancient Greek philosopher who first described this optical phenomenon in 200 AD. What makes Alexander's Band unique is the dark band that forms between the two rainbows, as you can clearly see in the photo.

The science behind it is as intriguing as the sight itself. Let's start with the double rainbow, which is a rare occurrence. It's created when sunlight is reflected twice within a raindrop. The first reflection is refracted inwards, while the light from the second reflection is refracted outwards. This double refraction causes the colors of the outer rainbow to be reversed compared to the inner rainbow. This phenomenon gives us the magical appearance of two rainbows embracing the sky.

But why does that dark band materialize between the two rainbows? I looked it up for you and found that it is because there are no raindrops that can reflect light at angles between 40 and 54 degrees from the opposite direction of the sun. This means that no light is reaching your eyes from this region of the sky, making it appear darker than the rest of the sky, forming Alexander's Band.

Beauty can reveal itself in the most unexpected places, even on an unremarkable road in busy city traffic on a rainy day, and that makes our planet an intricate and awe-inspiring place. It is a little blue gem in a sterile, barren, and unimaginably large universe.

Each of us is a lottery winner in many ways of being selected to be allowed to experience life in this unique world. Let's be grateful and kind to each other in the short time we all have a chance to live the one life we get.

But I fear those who should read this timely message in a world of conflict never subscribed to this publication.

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Speaking of which…