title:  Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Beautiful, Yet Completely Scientific, Tribute To The LGBT Rainbow
text: Neil DeGrasse Tyson doesn t often jump into the political fray. In fact, he s rather famous for holding the unscientific feet of both political parties to the fire, as he did on Bill Maher:That being said, there s no denying that Tyson is a thinking man, which means he s not a fan of bigotry or the guns used in mass shootings. His Twitter reaction to the horrific massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was particularly poignant, despite being completely scientific.First, he questioned whether the Second Amendment is even a good idea:Odd how many Americans invoke the 2nd Amendment to justify gun ownership, rather than explore whether or not it s a good idea  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 12, 2016For that, Tyson received a lot of pushback, but he was ready for it: @charlescwcooke So then the tweet does not apply to you. And of course it was a one liner because that s what tweets are.  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 12, 2016Regardless of your view on guns, it s tough to deny that that massacre was also a hate crime. Tyson doesn t hate. Instead, he gave us the science of the rainbow   the LGBT rainbow   in a series of wonderful tweets:The exact Rainbow any of us sees in the sky is entirely our own   a personal, yet communal gift from the laws of optics.  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 14, 2016 Rainbows are always the same angular size in the sky   they are various segments of a circle that is 84-degrees across.  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 14, 2016A Rainbow forms only broadside to your line of sight. That s why the pot of Gold at its base remains eternally out of reach.  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 14, 2016 Isaac Newton, in Opticks (1704), published his discovery that white light is composed of colors   the colors in Rainbows.  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 14, 2016If we had vision like @StarTrek s Giordi, Rainbows would look twice as thick, and include parts of ultraviolet & infrared.  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 14, 2016 Newton assigned seven colors to the color-continuous Rainbow: Red-Orange-Yellow-Green-Blue-Indigo-Violet. Meet ROY G. BIV  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 14, 2016Most people can take or leave Indigo as a Rainbow color, but Newton was mystically fascinated with 7, so we re stuck with it.  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 14, 2016 And sometimes you will find colors of the Rainbow on flags. pic.twitter.com/fl9AJuJANK  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 14, 2016For that, he also received some nasty pushback:@neiltyson Have you come out of the closet yet? #EvolutionistScum  Chuck Landreth (@charleslandreth) June 14, 2016But mostly, he received love: @neiltyson You, sir, are a true treasure! I wish you a lifetime of scientific excitement and a never ending supply of rainbows!  70Acres (@70acres) June 15, 2016@neiltyson this sequence was nothing short of elegant. Thank you. #rainbow  russell c brown (@russellcbrown) June 16, 2016 @neiltyson thank you! You have the love and appreciation of so many in the LGBT community and our cherished allies. This was just perfect.  AlexaBensonValavanis (@alexa_valavanis) June 16, 2016Featured image via Dimitrios Kambouris at Getty Images