Fire in the sky
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Fire in the sky

by Antonio Girona-García, Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB), CSIC-UniOvi-PA, Mieres, Spain

Normally sky is blue, but just before the sunset or at dawn, it can show a wide spectrum of yellow, orange or even red colours. During sunrise, sunbeams arrive almost parallel to the Earth’s surface. This beams possess different wave lengths and depending on the Sun’s position with respect to the Earth can arrive more or less easily. Light’s blue waves, that are short, are spread by the atmosphere dust in a way that during certain moments in the day, mainly red and orange waves go through, resulting in amazing warm coloured views as the one that can be appreciated in the picture.

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Konstantinos Kourtidis 3 years ago

Light's blue wavelengths are spread (scattered, to be correct) by atmospheric molecular nitrogen and oxygen.