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Today we had some unusual weather. It started to rain in the evening but the sun was still bright in the sky.
The result:

This is the first time I have seen a double rainbow. Notice how the colors in the second rainbow is reversed! Science class ka kuch yaad aaya?!?

Update: Notice how the sky is brighter inside the rainbow. When I was taking the pictures, I did wonder but did not know the answer. But I know the answer now –

Reference – http://eo.ucar.edu/rainbows/
Why is the sky brighter inside a rainbow?
Notice the contrast between the sky inside the arc and outside it. When one studies the refraction of sunlight on a raindrop one finds that there are many rays emerging at angles smaller than the rainbow ray, but essentially no light from single internal reflections at angles greater than this ray. Thus there is a lot of light within the bow, and very little beyond it. Because this light is a mix of all the rainbow colors, it is white. In the case of the secondary rainbow, the rainbow ray is the smallest angle and there are many rays emerging at angles greater than this one. Therefore the two bows combine to define a dark region between them – called Alexander’s Dark Band, in honor of Alexander of Aphrodisias who discussed it some 1800 years ago!

Past Sunday, 12 of us (apart from myself there was Kelly, Sesha, Hari, parineeta, Virtual Karma and Harley Force and others) went to Great America, Six Flags. This was my first experience of an amusement park and I was really excited about the trip. I know in spite of living in Mumbai for years, I did not go to Esselworld

We started off early and surprisingly at the scheduled time. The two and a half hour drive to the park which is towards the north west of Chicago was very pleasant – three beautiful girls as passengers, great music and 110 kmph – nothing beats that combination

Once inside the park we decided to do the first ride together and then split into smaller groups. Our first ride was Superman – Ultimate Flight. This was going to be my first roller coaster ride and I was nervous about that fact. As I stood with my friends in the line for our turn, I was feeling fearful and nervous. The anticipation while waiting in the line and the screams from people doing the rides only worsened my feelings. Finally our turn came and we get ourselves strapped into the seats. After the safety checks were completed by the staff, the platform beneath our feet slides down leaving our feet dangling in air. Then I hear the typical mechanically sounds of the hydraulics and our seats are tilted such that we are suspended in air. I hear the operated say something but missed it since I was too occupied with finding something to hold on to! Then the ride begins. Slowly we are hauled up to a height of 109 feet and then swoosh……

I was too thrilled (or terrified) to even scream! The ride lasted for almost 90 seconds – 90 seconds of being a Superman! Once the ride was over and I was walking away from the ride, there was the mixed feeling of high from the thrill (or the rush of adrenaline) and the sense of overcoming my fear. After becoming ‘superman’ nothing could stop this man of steel I went on to do a lot more rides. Here is the of rides that I did –

• Raging Bull
• Superman – Ultimate Flight
• Batman – The Ride
• Vertical Velocity
• American Eagle
• Demon
• Sky Trek Tower – Got to see a panoramic view of the entire park from a height of 285 feet.
• Splashwater Falls – This is was especially fun ride. You sit in a boat which is taken to a height of 50 feet before plunging into a tidal-wave splash. After the ride you exit using a bridge that stands just above the place where the tidal wave splashes. Kelly, Sesha, Sesha’s sister, Hari and I stood there on the bridge and got thoroughly soaked. It was a lot of fun getting hit by huge amounts of water on hot sunny day.
• Ice Mountain Splash
• Space Shuttle America – Finally got a chance of playing out my childhood fantasy of being a space traveler.
• Roaring Rapids

By 6:15 pm – again on time, we were driving back home. We were all very exhausted and hungry. A quick stop on the way for dinner took care of the hunger but exhaustion will need lots of hours of sleep. Once I reached home, I literally crashed into my bed.

Overall the trip was a great one! I will definitely do more roller coaster rides in future.

Here is the blog from parineeta about the trip.

Satellite image of the park
More about roller coasters.