2006-09-30 07:02:01 · 3 answers · asked by spankerpoligoli 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
We see a blue sky because of the different wavelengths of visible light. Blue light has the smallest wavelength and is thus more easily deflected by small particles in the atmosphere. Sunlight that would normally pass right overhead is deflected from the atmosphere to our eyes. Blue is the only color that is deflected to our eyes in any detectable amount. At sunset, the same effect is occuring, except that the sun is now at the horizon. The sunlight has to pass through a lot of our atmosphere before it reaches our eyes since it is coming in from a flat angle. This means that most of the blue and violet ( sunlight doesnt have much green) is deflected away. What is left is what we see in the red and orange
2006-09-30 07:07:02 · answer #1 · answered by Greg G 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
At sunset the sunlight goes through much more atmosphere. Blue is preferentially scattered by the atmosphere, so during the day we see the blue sky. Once the sun is low all the extra air has scattered all the blue, and we see the red.
2006-10-01 17:00:41 · answer #2 · answered by Dome Slug 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
suns reflection that time of day
2006-09-30 14:12:21 · answer #3 · answered by tweak 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋