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Chasing Rainbows with Honolulu Professor

Posted on Monday, June 27, 2022

There's not a lot of funding dedicated to research on rainbows, but a passion for photography and the spiritual draw of the atmospheric phenomenon keeps University of Hawai‘i Professor Steven Businger on the chase.

The certified consulting meteorologist and ARCS Scholar advisor shared his knowledge—from ancient Greek and Hawaiian observations to modern understanding of the physics—in an illustrated Honolulu Pau Hana talk. It takes sun and rain, sure, but there are additional factors that make Hawai‘i arguably the rainbow capital of the world. Dr. Businger's determination to photograph a full-circle rainbow led him to co-create the RainbowChase phone app, which can direct you conditions conducive to rainbow watching.

Double Rainbow over Hawaii, photo courtesy of Steven Businger