quadruple rainbow

Amanda Curtis posted this photo of a rare quadruple rainbow in Long Island.

(Twitter | @amanda_curtis)

Eat your heart out, Double Rainbow Guy.

A quadruple rainbow was spotted Tuesday morning in Glen Cove, New York, by a commuter waiting for the train at the Long Island Rail Road station. Amanda Curtis took a picture of the rare event, showing four rainbows in one Twitter photo.

"Quadruple #Rainbow at #glencove ny @LIRR station Today will be 4 pots of #gold," she tweeted, along with the hashtags #lucky, #chasetherainbow and #aprilshowers.

Curtis, who owns the Williamsburg-based fashion company Nineteenth Amendment, told the New York Daily News she found the four rays of light "interesting" and thought it would help cheer up her friends and followers after a rainy day on Monday. She also admitted it might be a sign luck is coming her way.

"I'm gonna go buy a lottery ticket now," she joked to the newspaper.

But how does a quadruple or double-double rainbow happen?

According to Earth Sky, triple and quadruple rainbows were believed to be impossible until 2011. When sunlight is refracted, or split, then reflected once in droplets of water, you see a single rainbow. When light is reflected twice inside water droplets, you see a double rainbow with the colors inverted.

The science website explains that three reflections create a triple rainbow, and four make a quadruple rainbow. However, the unusual phenomenon only happens when looking towards the sun, while single and double rainbows are seen when looking away or opposite from the sun.

"I didn't realize how rare it was, I just knew it was beautiful," Curtis told 1010 WINS. "My train was coming, but I just took out my phone, snapped a quick photo and ran after my train."

If only she had taken a video, much like Paul Vasquez, who posted the 2010 viral video of a double rainbow over Yosemite Park. The clip on YouTube, posted as "Yosemitebear62," has been viewed more than 41 million times -- though its popularity is more due to his audible excitement than the beauty of the colors in the spectrum.

Other photos of the double rainbows seen in the Long Island area on Tuesday: