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NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 4, 2026, features a photograph of at least five supernumerary rainbows seen over the Jersey Shore in 2018. NASA’s explanation says the extra bands form when similarly sized raindrops cause light waves to interfere.
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 4, 2026, features a photograph of at least five supernumerary rainbows over the Jersey Shore in New Jersey. The image, captured after the remnants of Hurricane Florence passed in 2018, illustrates a rare-looking rainbow effect that NASA says results from wave interference in similarly sized raindrops.
NASA’s APOD explanation says the scene developed after the storm’s remnants moved across the Jersey Shore. The Sun appeared in one direction while the rainbows became visible in the opposite direction. Over about half an hour, the bands reportedly appeared and faded. Photographer John Entwistle captured at least five in the featured image, with his daughter present.
The additional, closely spaced bands are called supernumerary rainbows. NASA says they form when falling water droplets are nearly the same size, typically less than a millimeter across. In those conditions, sunlight reflected within the droplets also behaves as waves that interfere with one another, producing extra bands alongside the main rainbow.
The APOD entry is an astronomy and science feature, not a report of a new storm or a newly taken photograph. The image dates to 2018; NASA published it as the day’s featured picture on October 4, 2026. The entry credits the photograph to Entwistle and lists Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti and Keighley Rockcliffe among its authors and editors.
How Raindrops Add Rainbow Bands
The photograph offers a visible example of a phenomenon that links an everyday sight to the wave behavior of light. Ordinary rainbows can be described through light refracting and reflecting in water droplets; NASA’s explanation says supernumerary bands require interference, in which waves combine. The extra colors are not separate rainbows caused by a different weather system, but an optical effect associated with the droplets’ size.
That makes the image useful beyond its visual appeal: it shows how atmospheric conditions can reveal physical processes that are otherwise hard to see. NASA notes that the historical observation of supernumerary rainbows in the early 1800s was considered early evidence for light’s wave nature. The agency’s account presents the picture as an illustration of that connection, rather than as a new scientific finding.
The explanation also connects the pattern to the condition of the rain itself. Droplets must be sufficiently similar in size for the interference bands to be distinct. The APOD does not report measurements of the droplets in this particular scene, so the photograph is an illustration of the phenomenon rather than a quantified meteorological observation.
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A 2018 Image Revisited
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day publishes a different image or photograph each day with a short explanation written by a professional astronomer, according to the APOD service description. The feature can draw on images made earlier; in this case, the date of the APOD entry is October 4, 2026, while the rainbow photograph was taken in 2018.
The source places the scene after the remnants of Hurricane Florence passed over the Jersey Shore. It describes the Sun emerging on one side and the rainbow display appearing in the opposite direction. It does not provide a more specific location, exact date, or time of day for the photograph, nor does it give a detailed account of the local weather conditions.
NASA credits Entwistle for the image and copyright, and identifies the APOD as a service involving NASA’s Astrophysics Science Division at Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Science Activation and Michigan Technological University. The item’s focus is the optical effect shown in the image, not an assessment of Florence’s impact on New Jersey.
What the Image Cannot Establish
The APOD does not state the precise date or location along the Jersey Shore, provide the original photograph’s technical details, or give measurements of the raindrops. It says the photographer captured at least five bands in a single shot and that the display changed over roughly the next half hour; it does not specify exactly when the featured image was taken during that interval.
NASA’s explanation identifies the general physical conditions associated with supernumerary rainbows, but the entry does not present new measurements or a separate analysis of the 2018 event. It also does not explain whether other photographs or observations from that period documented the display. The source’s account is the information available for the APOD feature.
The Daily APOD Continues
The next step in the APOD schedule is the following day’s image. The October 4 entry lists the next picture as “open space”, without further details in the supplied source material. No additional follow-up about the New Jersey photograph or the 2018 rainbow event is announced.
Readers can view the featured image and its explanation through NASA’s APOD page. The service continues its daily format, pairing a selected image with a short astronomy explanation; the rainbow entry uses that format to explain an atmospheric optical effect through the behavior of light and water droplets.
Key Questions
What did NASA feature on October 4, 2026?
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day featured a 2018 photograph of at least five supernumerary rainbows over the Jersey Shore in New Jersey.
What are supernumerary rainbows?
They are extra, closely spaced rainbow bands. NASA says they form when sunlight interacts with falling water droplets that are nearly the same size, allowing light waves to interfere.
When was the photograph taken?
The APOD says the scene occurred in 2018, after remnants of Hurricane Florence passed over the Jersey Shore. It does not give the exact date or time.
Does the photograph document a new storm or discovery?
No. The image dates to 2018 and was selected for NASA’s daily feature on October 4, 2026. The APOD explains a known optical phenomenon; it does not announce a new storm or research finding.
Source: primary
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