Beitrag
von Elmar Schmidt » 5. Dez 2013, 09:49
Hello Michael,
yes you're right w.r. to triple or quadruple, insofar as the media often used these words in reference to Michael Großmann's and Michael Theusner's first photos in 2011. Still, the better designation is "n orders of rainbows" with the individual names:
0th order a.k.a. zero order glow
1st order - primary rainbow (Primär[regen]bogen)
2nd order - secondary (sekundär)
3rd order - tertiary (tertiär)
4th order - quaternary (quartär)
5th order - quinary (quintär)
This is to be preferred, because, except of the secondary (I think), all naturally known orders have also been seen alone. The instance, that the primary and secondary are often see as a double bow, occasionally ends in confusion, as inexperienced observers think they have seen them even triple, quadruple etc. because of the supernumeraries (or in much rarer cases, when reflection bows are present). The terminology given above avoids this.
Elmar
