Rainbow curved and located high above the Sun (or Moon) with its convex side pointing downwards (creating the impression of an "upside down rainbow"); the circumhorizontal arc runs much closer to the horizon, is more straight and located at a significant distance below the Sun (or Moon). Both arcs have their red side pointing towards the sun and their violet part away from it, meaning the circumzenithal arc is red on the bottom, while the circumhorizontal arc is red on top. The circumhorizontal arc is sometimes referred to by the misnomer "fire rainbow". In order to view it, the Sun or
Rainbow compared to those of the primary bow. The secondary rainbow is fainter than the primary because more light escapes from two reflections compared to one and because the rainbow itself is spread over a greater area of the sky. Each rainbow reflects white light inside its coloured bands, but that is "down" for the primary and "up" for the secondary. The dark area of unlit sky lying between the primary and secondary bows is called Alexander's band, after Alexander of Aphrodisias who first described it. Unlike a double rainbow that consists of two separate and concentric rainbow arcs, the very