When discussing the formation of rainbows, the angle of deflection measures the angle between the initial path of a light ray before it hits a raindrop, and the angle of deviation, which measures how much the ray bends back on itself in the course of refraction and reflection towards an observer.
- See this diagram for an explanation: Rainbow anatomy
- The angle of deflection and the angle of deviation are always directly related to one another and together add up to 180 degrees.
- The angle of deflection equals 180 degrees minus the angle of deviation. So, it’s clear the angle of deviation is always equal to 180 degrees minus the angle of deflection.
- In any particular case, the angle of deflection is always the same as the viewing angle because the incident rays of light that form a rainbow all follow paths that run parallel with the rainbow axis.