Behind all these legends is the meteorological and optical phenomenon, one of the most spectacular in nature. When it rains and light rays enter the water droplets, the light breaks down into colors (such as when light passes through a glass) and changes its direction. When this light reaches the opposite side of the drop, it tries to leave it but a small fraction does not succeed and is reflected backwards, leaving the face of the drop through which it had entered and undergoing a new refraction. Because the walls of the drop are curved, the light is reflected back towards an angle of 138º with respect to the incident light, which means that the rainbow can only be seen when we are facing away from the sun. This decomposition of white light was demonstrated by a prism by Newton.