Jean Saunders, age 11, of Fredericton, N.B., for her question:

What are rainbows made of?

A rainbow is made of raindrops and sunbeams. The raindrops are falling through a dark rain cloud. The sunbeams shine on these little mirrors from the opposite side of the sky. The mirror raindrops refract, or bend, the light of the sunbeams. This pauses the light to split apart into a skein of colors. The colors make the rainbow.

Actually, the rainbow as no more than a trick with mirrors and light. And, as with all mirror tricks, you have to be at just the right angle to see it. If the rain cloud is in the western sky, the sun must be in the east. If the rain cloud is in the east, the sun must be in the west. Rainbows occur in the morning or afternoon.

For you to see one, the sunbeams must come from over your shoulder.