'It's a nice way to celebrate Earth Day': Woman takes rare picture of quadruple rainbow over New York
Amanda Curtis captured image while catching train to work
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It is certainly a thing of beauty. And it is clear people cannot get enough of it.
Amanda Curtis, the CEO of a New York-based fashion company, took the opportunity presented by showers earlier this week to click an image that appears to show four stunning rainbows.
Ms Curtis initially thought she was photographing a double rainbow at Long Island’s Glen Cove. When she looked closer, she discovered she had captured something quite remarkable as she waiting to catch a train to work earlier this week.
Ms Curits posted her image on social media and before long the internet was reacting with awe, disbelief and wonder. In its own small way, it was a little bit like the gold/blue dress moment as people tried to work out quite how such a phenomenon was possible.
“Quadruple #Rainbow at #glencove ny @LIRR station Today will be 4 pots of #gold #lucky #chasetherainbow #aprilshowers,” she wrote on Twitter
Ms Curtis, 27, told The Independent that some people had expressed doubts about whether or not the image was genuine, but that expert voices soon stepped in both to authenticate both the image and the meteorological phenomenon.
"I have had lots of people thanking me for sharing it," she said.
"Of course I would share something so beautiful - that is what social media is for - but I think people were glad to just have something to brighten their day, even though that sounds like a cliche."
The Washington Post quoted Paul Neiman, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Observatory who said: "This is an outstanding example of a primary and secondary rainbow (relatively common) occurring together with their reflected-light counterparts (quite rare)."
Ms Curtis said she had experienced a moment of “awe” when she realised she was loooking at four rainbows and not two.
"It's also a nice way to celebrate Earth Day," she said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments