Sonnenspektrum
Physik
© 2016
- 2026
Basiswissen|
In Zahlen|
Als kontinuierliches Spektrum|
Historisch|
Aristoteles, 340 v. Chr.|
Robert Grosseteste, um 1230|
Roger Bacon, 1266|
Kamal al-Din (1267 bis 1319)|
Isaac Newton, 1672|
Fußnoten
Basiswissen
Das weiße Licht der Sonne entsteht in den äußeren Schichten der Sonne, der sogenannten Photosphäre. Das Licht erscheint uns als weiß, es kann aber in verschiedene Farbanteile zerlegt werden (Prismaversuch). Auf natürliche Weise erfolgt diese Zerlegung durch Wassertröpfchen bei einem Regenbogen. Die Gesamtheit aller dieser Farben nennt man Sonnenspektrum. [13] Die einzelnen Farben sind entsprechend die Spektralfarben.
In Zahlen
Wellenlänge ändert sich mit dem Medium, die Frequenz nicht
Frequenz für Farbeindruck entscheidend
nm ≙ 10¯⁹ m
- 640 nm bis 780 nm | 👉 rot
- 600 nm bis 640 nm | 👉 orange
- 570 nm bis 600 nm | 👉 gelb
- 490 nm bis 570 nm | 👉 grün
- 430 nm bis 490 nm | 👉 blau
- 380 nm bis 430 nm | 👉 violett
Analogie zu Schallwellen
THz ≙ 10¹² Hz
- 384 THz bis 468 THz | 👉 rot
- 468 THz bis 500 THz | 👉 orange
- 500 THz bis 526 THz | 👉 gelb
- 526 THz bis 612 THz | 👉 grün
- 612 THz bis 697 THz | 👉 blau
- 697 THz bis 789 THz | 👉 violett
Als kontinuierliches Spektrum
Bohrsches Atommodell gibt nur Spektrallinien
Historisch
Versuche, die Farbeffekte des Lichtes im Spiel mit Nebel oder Glas in ein philosophisches Weltbild einzufügen führen zurück bis in das antike Indien [4], zu Aristoteles [5] und Plinius dem Älteren [6]. In der Zeit des Hochmittelalters waren es dann vor allem islamische Gelehrte [7] sowie Scholastiker Westeuropas wie zum Beispiel Robert Grosseteste [11], Dietrich von Freiberg [8] [9] die erstaunlich moderne Vorstellungen im Sinne der Strahlenoptik entwarfen. Das bis ins 21. Jahrhundert gebräuchliche Bild der Strahlenoptik war dann seit spätestens 1672 in der Welt. [3]
Aristoteles, 340 v. Chr.
Aristoteles, ein Schüler des Platon und selbst Lehrer von Alexander dem Großen, gilt als einer der Pioniere modernen naturwissenschaftlichen Denkens. Er hat sich mit vielen Erscheinungen der Natur beschäftigt, etwa der Bewegung, dem Nachthimmel und auch Ebbe und Flut. Bei seiner Beschreibung von Regenbögen verblüfft, dass er in dem Spektrum nur drei Farbe erkennen will. Interessant ist die Begründung:
ZITAT:
Aristotels, 340 v. Chr.: "Es gibt nie mehr als zwei Regenbögen zur gleichen Zeit. Jeder ist dreifarbig. […] Diese sind nahezu die einzigen Farben, die Maler nicht durch Mischen erzeugen können […] denn kein Mischen wir Rot, Grün oder Purpur ergeben. Das sind die Farben des Regenbogens, obwohl zwischen dem Rot und Grün oft eine orangene Farbe gesehen werden kann." [5]
Aristotels, 340 v. Chr.: "Es gibt nie mehr als zwei Regenbögen zur gleichen Zeit. Jeder ist dreifarbig. […] Diese sind nahezu die einzigen Farben, die Maler nicht durch Mischen erzeugen können […] denn kein Mischen wir Rot, Grün oder Purpur ergeben. Das sind die Farben des Regenbogens, obwohl zwischen dem Rot und Grün oft eine orangene Farbe gesehen werden kann." [5]
Hat Aristoteles das Gelb nicht gesehen? Galt Gelb im antiken Griechenland nicht als Farbe? Wie viele Farben würde man selbst in einem Regenbogen zählen, wenn man ihn in Ruhe betrachten kann? Möchte man die fließenden Übergänge von Rot zur Orange noch in weitere Farben einteilen? Wo genau zieht man die Grenze zwischen zwei Farben?
Robert Grosseteste, um 1230
Experimente werden mmer wichtiger.
ZITAT:
Robert Grossetest, 1230: "Die Unterschiede der Farben eines Regenbogens gegenüber einem anderen entstehen sowohl aus der Reinheit und Unreinheit des aufnehmenden durchsichtigen Mediums als auch aus der Helligkeit und Dunkelheit des einwirkenden Lichts." [11]
Robert Grossetest, 1230: "Die Unterschiede der Farben eines Regenbogens gegenüber einem anderen entstehen sowohl aus der Reinheit und Unreinheit des aufnehmenden durchsichtigen Mediums als auch aus der Helligkeit und Dunkelheit des einwirkenden Lichts." [11]
Vorwegnahme von Goethes Farbenlehre
Roger Bacon, 1266
Frühe Ahnungen einer späteren Physik
ZITAT:
Roger Bacon, um Das ist jedoch nichts, wie das Experiment mit dem Kristallstein zeigt. Denn dort entstehen Farben, obwohl es keinen Unterschied der Materie hinsichtlich Dichte und Dünnheit gibt; dennoch entstehen dort wirkliche Farben. […] je nach der unterschiedlichen Lage eines Gegenstandes zum Licht erscheint eine unterschiedliche Farbe, wie beim Hals einer Taube." [12]
Roger Bacon, um Das ist jedoch nichts, wie das Experiment mit dem Kristallstein zeigt. Denn dort entstehen Farben, obwohl es keinen Unterschied der Materie hinsichtlich Dichte und Dünnheit gibt; dennoch entstehen dort wirkliche Farben. […] je nach der unterschiedlichen Lage eines Gegenstandes zum Licht erscheint eine unterschiedliche Farbe, wie beim Hals einer Taube." [12]
Dass die Lage des beleuchteten Gegenstandes wichtig für die Farbeffekt sein könnte, verwies auf die später von Isaac Newton herausgerbeitete Tatsache, dass Lichtstrahlen unterschiedlicher Farben sich geometrisch unterschiedlich verhalten. Heute beschreibt man den Effekt als 👉 Dispersion
Kamal al-Din (1267 bis 1319)
Experimente auch in der islamischen Welt
Isaac Newton, 1672
Versuche mit Prismen
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "1. As the Rays of light differ in degrees of Refrangibility, so they also differ in their disposition to exhibit this or that particular colour. Colours are not Qualifications of Light, derived from Refractions, or Reflections of natural Bodies (as 'tis generally believed,) but Original and connate properties, which in divers Rays are divers. Some Rays are disposed to exhibit a red colour and no other; some a yellow and no other, some a green and no other, and so of the rest. Nor are there only Rays proper and particular to the more eminent colours, but even to all their intermediate gradations." [3]
Newton, 1672: "1. As the Rays of light differ in degrees of Refrangibility, so they also differ in their disposition to exhibit this or that particular colour. Colours are not Qualifications of Light, derived from Refractions, or Reflections of natural Bodies (as 'tis generally believed,) but Original and connate properties, which in divers Rays are divers. Some Rays are disposed to exhibit a red colour and no other; some a yellow and no other, some a green and no other, and so of the rest. Nor are there only Rays proper and particular to the more eminent colours, but even to all their intermediate gradations." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "2. To the same degree of Refrangibility ever belongs the same colour, and to the same colour ever belongs the same degree of Refrangibility. The least Refrangible Rays are all disposed to exhibit a Red colour, and contrarily those Rays, which are disposed to exhibit a Red colour, are all the least refrangible: So the most refrangible Rays are all disposed to exhibit a deep Violet Colour, and contrarily those which are apt to exhibit such a violet colour, are all the most Refrangible. And so to all the intermediate colours in a continued series belong intermediate degrees of refrangibility. And this Analogy 'twixt colours, and refrangibility, is very precise and strict; the Rays always either exactly agreeing in both, or proportionally disagreeing in both." [3]
Newton, 1672: "2. To the same degree of Refrangibility ever belongs the same colour, and to the same colour ever belongs the same degree of Refrangibility. The least Refrangible Rays are all disposed to exhibit a Red colour, and contrarily those Rays, which are disposed to exhibit a Red colour, are all the least refrangible: So the most refrangible Rays are all disposed to exhibit a deep Violet Colour, and contrarily those which are apt to exhibit such a violet colour, are all the most Refrangible. And so to all the intermediate colours in a continued series belong intermediate degrees of refrangibility. And this Analogy 'twixt colours, and refrangibility, is very precise and strict; the Rays always either exactly agreeing in both, or proportionally disagreeing in both." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "3. The species of colour, and degree of Refrangibility proper to any particular sort of Rays, is not mutable by Refraction, nor by Reflection from natural bodies, nor by any other cause, that I could yet observe. When any one sort of Rays hath been well parted from those of other kinds, it hath afterwards obstinately retained its colour, notwithstanding my utmost endeavours to change it. I have refracted it with Prismes, and reflected it with Bodies, which in Day-light were of other colours; I have intercepted it with the coloured film of Air interceding two compressed plates of glass; transmitted it through coloured Mediums, and through Mediums irradiated with other sorts of Rays, and diversly terminated it; and yet could never produce any new colour out of it. It would by contracting or dilating become more brisk, or faint, and by the loss of many Rays, in some cases very obscure and dark; but I could never see it changed in specie." [3]
Newton, 1672: "3. The species of colour, and degree of Refrangibility proper to any particular sort of Rays, is not mutable by Refraction, nor by Reflection from natural bodies, nor by any other cause, that I could yet observe. When any one sort of Rays hath been well parted from those of other kinds, it hath afterwards obstinately retained its colour, notwithstanding my utmost endeavours to change it. I have refracted it with Prismes, and reflected it with Bodies, which in Day-light were of other colours; I have intercepted it with the coloured film of Air interceding two compressed plates of glass; transmitted it through coloured Mediums, and through Mediums irradiated with other sorts of Rays, and diversly terminated it; and yet could never produce any new colour out of it. It would by contracting or dilating become more brisk, or faint, and by the loss of many Rays, in some cases very obscure and dark; but I could never see it changed in specie." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "Yet seeming transmutations of Colours may be made, where there is any mixture of divers sorts of Rays. For in such mixtures, the component colours appear not, but, by their mutual allaying each other, constitute a midling colour. And therefore, if by refraction, or any other of the aforesaid causes, the difform Rays, latent in such a mixture, be separated, there shall emerge colours different from the colour of the composition. Which colours are not New generated, but only made Apparent by being parted; for if they be again intirely mix't and blended together, they will again compose that colour, which they did before separation. And for the same reason, Transmutations made by the convening of divers colours are not real; for when the difform Rays are again severed, they will exhibit the very same colours, which they did before they entered the composition; as you see, Blew and Yellow powders, when finely mixed, appear to the naked eye Green, and yet the colours of the Component corpuscles are not thereby really transmuted, but only blended. For, when viewed with a good Microscope, they still appear Blew and Yellow interspersedly." [3]
Newton, 1672: "Yet seeming transmutations of Colours may be made, where there is any mixture of divers sorts of Rays. For in such mixtures, the component colours appear not, but, by their mutual allaying each other, constitute a midling colour. And therefore, if by refraction, or any other of the aforesaid causes, the difform Rays, latent in such a mixture, be separated, there shall emerge colours different from the colour of the composition. Which colours are not New generated, but only made Apparent by being parted; for if they be again intirely mix't and blended together, they will again compose that colour, which they did before separation. And for the same reason, Transmutations made by the convening of divers colours are not real; for when the difform Rays are again severed, they will exhibit the very same colours, which they did before they entered the composition; as you see, Blew and Yellow powders, when finely mixed, appear to the naked eye Green, and yet the colours of the Component corpuscles are not thereby really transmuted, but only blended. For, when viewed with a good Microscope, they still appear Blew and Yellow interspersedly." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "5. There are therefore two sorts of Colours. The one original and simple, the other compounded of these. The Original or primary colours are, Red, Yellow, Green, Blew, and a Violet-purple, together with Orange, Indico, and an indefinite variety of Intermediate gradations." [3]
Newton, 1672: "5. There are therefore two sorts of Colours. The one original and simple, the other compounded of these. The Original or primary colours are, Red, Yellow, Green, Blew, and a Violet-purple, together with Orange, Indico, and an indefinite variety of Intermediate gradations." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "6. The same colours in Specie with these Primary ones may be also produced by composition: For, a mixture of Yellow and Blew makes Green; of Red and Yellow makes Orange; of Orange and Yellowish green makes yellow. And in general, if any two Colours be mixed, which in the series of those, generated by the Prisme, are not too far distant one from another, they by their mutual alloy compound that colour, which in the said series appeareth in the mid-way between them. But those, which are situated at too great a distance, do not so. Orange and Indico produce not the intermediate Green, nor Scarlet and Green the intermediate yellow." [3]
Newton, 1672: "6. The same colours in Specie with these Primary ones may be also produced by composition: For, a mixture of Yellow and Blew makes Green; of Red and Yellow makes Orange; of Orange and Yellowish green makes yellow. And in general, if any two Colours be mixed, which in the series of those, generated by the Prisme, are not too far distant one from another, they by their mutual alloy compound that colour, which in the said series appeareth in the mid-way between them. But those, which are situated at too great a distance, do not so. Orange and Indico produce not the intermediate Green, nor Scarlet and Green the intermediate yellow." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "7. But the most surprising, and wonderful composition was that of Whiteness. There is no one sort of Rays which alone can exhibit this. 'Tis ever compounded, and to its composition are requisite all the aforesaid primary Colours, mixed in a due proportion. I have often with Admiration beheld, that all the Colours of the Prisme being made to converge, and thereby to be again mixed as they were in the light before it was Incident upon the Prisme, reproduced light, intirely and perfectly white, and not at all sensibly differing from a direct Light of the Sun, unless when the glasses, I used, were not sufficiently clear; for then they would a little incline it to their colour." [3]
Newton, 1672: "7. But the most surprising, and wonderful composition was that of Whiteness. There is no one sort of Rays which alone can exhibit this. 'Tis ever compounded, and to its composition are requisite all the aforesaid primary Colours, mixed in a due proportion. I have often with Admiration beheld, that all the Colours of the Prisme being made to converge, and thereby to be again mixed as they were in the light before it was Incident upon the Prisme, reproduced light, intirely and perfectly white, and not at all sensibly differing from a direct Light of the Sun, unless when the glasses, I used, were not sufficiently clear; for then they would a little incline it to their colour." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "8. Hence therefore it comes to pass, that Whiteness is the usual colour of Light; for, Light is a confused aggregate of Rays indued with all sorts of Colors, as they are promiscuously darted from the various parts of luminous bodies. And of such a confused aggregate, as I said, is generated Whiteness, if there be a due proportion of the Ingredients; but if any one predominate, the Light must incline to that colour; as it happens in the Blew flame of Brimstone; the yellow flame of a Candle; and the various colours of the Fixed stars." [3]
Newton, 1672: "8. Hence therefore it comes to pass, that Whiteness is the usual colour of Light; for, Light is a confused aggregate of Rays indued with all sorts of Colors, as they are promiscuously darted from the various parts of luminous bodies. And of such a confused aggregate, as I said, is generated Whiteness, if there be a due proportion of the Ingredients; but if any one predominate, the Light must incline to that colour; as it happens in the Blew flame of Brimstone; the yellow flame of a Candle; and the various colours of the Fixed stars." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "9. These things considered, the manner, how colours are produced by the Prisme, is evident. For, of the Rays, constituting the incident light, since those which differ in Colour proportionally differ in Refrangibility, they by their unequall refractions must be severed and dispersed into an oblong form in an orderly succession from the least refracted Scarlet to the most refracted Violet. And for the same reason it is, that objects, when looked upon through a Prisme, appear coloured. For, the difform Rays, by their unequal Refractions, are made to diverge towards several parts of the Retina, and there express the Images of things coloured, as in the former case they did the Suns Image upon a wall. And by this inequality of refractions they become not only coloured, but also very confused and indistinct." [3]
Newton, 1672: "9. These things considered, the manner, how colours are produced by the Prisme, is evident. For, of the Rays, constituting the incident light, since those which differ in Colour proportionally differ in Refrangibility, they by their unequall refractions must be severed and dispersed into an oblong form in an orderly succession from the least refracted Scarlet to the most refracted Violet. And for the same reason it is, that objects, when looked upon through a Prisme, appear coloured. For, the difform Rays, by their unequal Refractions, are made to diverge towards several parts of the Retina, and there express the Images of things coloured, as in the former case they did the Suns Image upon a wall. And by this inequality of refractions they become not only coloured, but also very confused and indistinct." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "10. Why the Colours of the Rainbow appear in falling drops of Rain, is also from hence evident. For, those drops, which refract the Rays, disposed to appear purple, in greatest quantity to the Spectators eye, refract the Rays of other sorts so much less, as to make them pass beside it; and such are the drops on the inside of the Primary Bow, and on the outside of the Secondary or Exteriour one. So those drops, which refract in greatest plenty the Rays, apt to appear red, toward the Spectators eye, refract those of other sorts so much more, as to make them pass beside it; and such are the drops on the exteriour part of the Primary, and interiour part of the Secondary Bow." [3]
Newton, 1672: "10. Why the Colours of the Rainbow appear in falling drops of Rain, is also from hence evident. For, those drops, which refract the Rays, disposed to appear purple, in greatest quantity to the Spectators eye, refract the Rays of other sorts so much less, as to make them pass beside it; and such are the drops on the inside of the Primary Bow, and on the outside of the Secondary or Exteriour one. So those drops, which refract in greatest plenty the Rays, apt to appear red, toward the Spectators eye, refract those of other sorts so much more, as to make them pass beside it; and such are the drops on the exteriour part of the Primary, and interiour part of the Secondary Bow." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "11. The odd Phænomena of an infusion of Lignum Nephriticum, Leaf gold, Fragments of coloured glass, and some other transparently coloured bodies, appearing in one position of one colour, and of another in another, are on these grounds no longer riddles. For, those are substances apt to reflect one sort of light and transmit another; as may be seen in a dark room, by illuminating them with similar or uncompounded light. For, then they appear of that colour only, with which they are illuminated, but yet in one position more vivid and luminous than in another, accordingly as they are disposed more or less to reflect or transmit the incident colour." [3]
Newton, 1672: "11. The odd Phænomena of an infusion of Lignum Nephriticum, Leaf gold, Fragments of coloured glass, and some other transparently coloured bodies, appearing in one position of one colour, and of another in another, are on these grounds no longer riddles. For, those are substances apt to reflect one sort of light and transmit another; as may be seen in a dark room, by illuminating them with similar or uncompounded light. For, then they appear of that colour only, with which they are illuminated, but yet in one position more vivid and luminous than in another, accordingly as they are disposed more or less to reflect or transmit the incident colour." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "12. From hence also is manifest the reason of an unexpected Experiment, which Mr. Hook somewhere in his Micrography relates to have made with two wedg-like transparent vessels, fill'd the one with red, the other with a blew liquor: namely that though they were severally transparent enough, yet both together became opake; For, if one transmitted only red, and the other only blew, no rays could pass through both." [3]
Newton, 1672: "12. From hence also is manifest the reason of an unexpected Experiment, which Mr. Hook somewhere in his Micrography relates to have made with two wedg-like transparent vessels, fill'd the one with red, the other with a blew liquor: namely that though they were severally transparent enough, yet both together became opake; For, if one transmitted only red, and the other only blew, no rays could pass through both." [3]
ZITAT:
Newton, 1672: "13. I might add more instances of this nature, but I shall conclude with this general one, that the Colours of all natural Bodies have no other origin than this, that they are variously qualified to reflect one sort of light in greater plenty then another. And this I have experimented in a dark Room by illuminating those bodies with uncompounded light of divers colours. For by that means any body may be made to appear of any colour. They have there no appropriate colour, but ever appear of the colour of the light cast upon them, but yet with this difference, that they are most brisk and vivid in the light of their own day-light-colour. Minium appeareth there of any colour indifferently, with which 'tis illustrated, but yet most luminous in red, and so Bise appeareth indifferently of any colour with which 'tis illustrated, but yet most luminous in blew. And therefore Minium reflecteth Rays of any colour, but most copiously those indued with red; and consequently when illustrated with day-light, that is, with all sorts of Rays promiscuously blended, those qualified with red shall abound most in the reflected light, and by their prevalence cause it to appear of that colour. And for the same reason Bise, reflecting blew most copiously, shall appear blew by the excess of those Rays in its reflected light; and the like of other bodies. And that this is the intire and adequate cause of their colours, is manifest, because they have no power to change or alter the colours of any sort of Rays incident apart, but put on all colours indifferently, with which they are inlightned." [3]
Newton, 1672: "13. I might add more instances of this nature, but I shall conclude with this general one, that the Colours of all natural Bodies have no other origin than this, that they are variously qualified to reflect one sort of light in greater plenty then another. And this I have experimented in a dark Room by illuminating those bodies with uncompounded light of divers colours. For by that means any body may be made to appear of any colour. They have there no appropriate colour, but ever appear of the colour of the light cast upon them, but yet with this difference, that they are most brisk and vivid in the light of their own day-light-colour. Minium appeareth there of any colour indifferently, with which 'tis illustrated, but yet most luminous in red, and so Bise appeareth indifferently of any colour with which 'tis illustrated, but yet most luminous in blew. And therefore Minium reflecteth Rays of any colour, but most copiously those indued with red; and consequently when illustrated with day-light, that is, with all sorts of Rays promiscuously blended, those qualified with red shall abound most in the reflected light, and by their prevalence cause it to appear of that colour. And for the same reason Bise, reflecting blew most copiously, shall appear blew by the excess of those Rays in its reflected light; and the like of other bodies. And that this is the intire and adequate cause of their colours, is manifest, because they have no power to change or alter the colours of any sort of Rays incident apart, but put on all colours indifferently, with which they are inlightned." [3]
Fußnoten
- [1] Der Physiker und Nobelpreisträger Erwin Schrödinger (1887 bis 1961) betont, dass sowohl beim Schall als auch beim Licht die Frequenz und nicht die Wellenlänge über die Tonhöhe und die Farbempfindung entscheidet. Über die Schallwellen schreibt er: "Ihre Wellenlänge - genauer gesagt, ihre Frequenz (Schwingungszahl pro Sekunde) - bestimmt die Tonhöhe des gehörten Schalles. (Hierzu sei bemerkt: Physiologische Bedeutung kommt der Frequenz, nicht der Wellenlänge zu, ebenso beim Licht, bei dem indessen diese beiden Größen ineinander fast genau umgekehrt proportional sind …" In: Erwin Schrödinger: Geist und Materie. Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn Braunschweig, 1961. Deutsche Ausgabe der Tanner Lectures vom Trinity College Oxford aus dem Jahr 1956 (Mind and Matter). Dort die Seite 68. Siehe auch 👉 Farbwahrnehmung
- [2] "Intense ultrashort light pulses comprising merely a few wave cycles became routinely available by the turn of the millennium. […] Striking implications include controlled generation and measurement of single attosecond pulses of extreme ultraviolet light as well as trains of them, and real-time observation of atomic-scale electron dynamics." In: Ferenc Krausz, Misha Ivanov: Attosecond physics. Rev. Mod. Phys. 81, 163 – Published 2 February, 2009. Online: https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.81.163
- [3] A Letter of Mr. Isaac Newton … containing his New Theory about Light and Colors’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 80 (19 Feb. 1671/2), pp. 3075-3087. Online: https://newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/NATP00006
- [4] Ein kurzer Artikel zur physikalischen Beschreibung von Farben durch indische Philosophen gibt einige Hinweise für weitere Recherchen: Anand, Bhaskar, et al.: The Indian Tradition of Colors and Colorful Rainbows. ResearchGate, April 2016. Online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301323521_The_Indian_Tradition_of_Colors_and_Colorful_Rainbows
- [5] Aristoteles über den Regenbogen und seine Farben, etwa 340 v. Chr.: "The rainbow never forms a full circle, nor any segment greater than a semicircle. At sunset and sunrise the circle is smallest and the segment largest: as the sun rises higher the circle is larger and the segment smaller. After the autumn equinox in the shorter days it is seen at every hour of the day, in the summer not about midday. There are never more than two rainbows at one time. Each of them is three-coloured; the colours are the same in both and their number is the same, but in the outer rainbow they are fainter and their position is reversed. In the inner rainbow the first and largest band is red; in the outer rainbow the band that is nearest to this one and smallest is of the same colour: the other bands correspond on the same principle. These are almost the only colours which painters cannot manufacture: for there are colours which they create by mixing, but no mixing will give red, green, or purple. These are the colours of the rainbow, though between the red and the green an orange colour is often seen." In: Aristotle, Meteorology, translated by Erwin Wentworth Webster. 1917. Online: https://topostext.org/work/865
- [6] Plinius der Ältere (23 bis 79 n. Chr.) beschreibt in seiner Naturalis historia einen Stein den er Iris nannte und den man auf einer Insel im Roten Meer finden sollte. Dieser Stein erzeugt ins Sonnenlicht gehalten Farbeffekte: "for, when struck by the rays of the sun in a covered spot, it projects upon the nearest walls the form and diversified colours of the rainbow; continually changing its tints, and exciting admiration by the great variety of colours which it presents […] The stone, however, as already stated, only presents these colours when under cover; not as though they were in the body of the stone itself, but, to all appearance, as if they were the result of the reflected light upon the surface of the wall. The best kind is the one that produces the largest arcs, with the closest resemblance to the rainbow" In: Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, translated by John Bostock, Chap.52. Pliny had alsodiscussed the play of colours of opals. In: Amelia Carolina Sparavigna: The play of colours of prisms. Online: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1207.3504
- [7] Ein arabischer Gelehrter beschreibt den Regenbogen: "This article focuses on a critical presentation of the arguments put forward by Kamal al-Din al-Farisi [1266 bis 1319] about the formation of the rainbow. This optical phenomenon was explained simultaneously but independently by two scientists, Kamal al-Din al-Farisi and Theodoric of Freiberg. Surprisingly, their theories of the rainbow were nearly correct in some respects and somewhat similar to our present understanding. " Hüseyin Gazi Topdemir: Kamal Al-Din Al-Farisi’s Explanation of the Rainbow. 23rd May 2008. Online: https://muslimheritage.com/kamal-al-din-al-farisis-explanation-of-the-rainbow/
- [8] Dietrich von Freiberg: De iride et de radialibus impressionibus (Über den Regenbogen und die Strahleneinwirkungen). Vermutlich geschrieben zwischen 1304 und 1311.
- [9] Dass Dietrich von Freiberg seine De Iride… zwischen 1304 und 1311 geschrieben haben soll, steht in: E. Krebs: Meister Dietrich (Theodoricus Teutonicus de Vriberg), sein Leben, seine Werke, seine Wissenschaft. In: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters, V, pts. 5–6 (Münster in Westfalen, 1906), 105 ff.; sowie auch in: P. Duhem, Le système du monde, III (paris, 1915), 383 ff.
- [10] Versuche mit einer wassgergefüllten Glaskugel zur Erzeugung eines künstlichen Regenbogens, mit Farbeffekten: "[Kamāl al-Dīn] constructed a dark chamber with one opening, and placed inside it a transparent sphere [spherical glass vial filled with water ] illuminated by the rays of the sun. He masked half of the sphere with a dense white body and observed the face on the side toward the sphere: on it he saw an arc whose center was on the axis leading from the center of the sphere to the sun. This arc was formed from light rays that had undergone a refraction, a reflection, and another refraction. The inside of the arc was brighter than the outside because it contained rays emitted by both the central cone and the exterior cone. Kamāl al-Dīn next placed another white body, less dense than the first, before the sphere and again observed the face turned toward the sphere. This time he saw a complete ring that always displayed the colors of the rainbow. This ring was formed from the rays refracted a second time after having been reflected in the sphere. He noted the variation in the intensity of the colors according to the position of the screen, then employed the same dark chamber to consider the case of two reflections between two refractions." Zu den Farben: "The colors of the arc are different but related, between the blue, the green, the yellow, and the dark red, and come from a strong luminous source reaching the eye by a reflection or a refraction or a combination of the two" In: Der Eintrag "Kamāl Al-Din". Verfasst von Roshdi Rashed. In: Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography COPYRIGHT 2008 Charles Scribner's Sons. Abgerufen am 12. November 2026. Online: https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/DSB/Al-Farisi.pdf
- [11] Robert Grosseteste (1175–1253)) über de Regenbogen im lateinischen Original: "Diversitas vero unius iridis ad aliam in coloribus suis tum accidit ex puritate et impuritate diaphani recipientis, tum ex claritate et obscuritate luminis imprimentis." In: De Iride (Über den Regenbogen), entstanden um 1228 bis 1230. Online: https://bartholomew.stanford.edu/onrainbowgrosse/excerpttext.html
- [12] Roger Bacon (1214 bis 1294) über die Farben des Regenbogens als Effekt der Geometrie: "Sed istud nihil est, sicut patet per experientiam lapidis crystallini. Nam ibi generantur colores, et nulla est diversitas materiae in spissitudine et raritate, et tamen hic veri colores generantur." Und: "Nam secundum diversitatem situs rei respectu lucis apparet diversus color, ut in collo columbae." In: Roger Bacon: Opus Maius. Abgerufen am 12. November 2026. Online: https://ancientlibrary.net/roger-bacon-opus-maius/6
- [13] Sonnenspektrum als Begriff, 1905: "Wenn man das Sonnenspektrum auf einem Schirm auffängt, der mit einer lichtempfindlichen Substanz überzogen ist, d. h. auf einer photographischen Platte (die hierzu geeigneten Apparate heißen Spektrographen), so schwärzt er sich allmählich, nur die den Fraunhoferschen Linien entsprechenden Stellen bleiben weiß. Der rote Teil des Spektrums wird nur langsam dunkel, viel schneller der blaue und violette, am schnellsten und stärksten aber diejenigen Teile, die jenseit des violetten Endes des sichtbaren Spektrums (λ = 400 μμ) liegen." In: der Artikel "Spektralanalyse". Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Band 18. Leipzig 1909, S. 707-710. Online: http://www.zeno.org/nid/20007500653
- [14] Sonnenspektrum, 1909, zur Entstehungszeit des Bohrschen Atommodells: "Um die dunkeln (Fraunhoferschen) Linien im kontinuierlichen Sonnenspektrum […] zu erklären, muß man annehmen, daß die S. aus einem in der höchsten Glühhitze befindlichen gasförmigen Kern besteht, der umgeben ist von einer Atmosphäre von niedrigerer Temperatur. Das Zusammentreffen der Fraunhoferschen mit den hellen Linien in den Spektren gewisser Metalldämpfe beweist zugleich die Anwesenheit der letztern in der Sonnenatmosphäre, und man hat auf diese Weise gefunden, daß die meisten auf der Erde bekannten chemischen Elemente in der Sonnenatmosphäre vorkommen". In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Band 18. Leipzig 1909, S. 599-603. Online: http://www.zeno.org/nid/20007492596