Myth why the sky is blue

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Edition: Available editions United Kingdom. Become an author Sign up as a reader Sign in. Earth, shot from space, as it absorbs and reflects rays of light coming from the Sun - the same white-looking rays that give our sky its colour. Duane W. Hamacher , Monash University. Author Duane W. But don't be fooled: when you look at the Earth from space, it's blue, too, but the atmosphere has nothing to do with it! This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. More From Forbes.

Jul 23, , am EDT. Jul 15, , am EDT. Jul 8, , am EDT. Jul 1, , am EDT. Jul 20, , am EDT. Jul 19, , am EDT. Jul 18, , am EDT. Jul 17, , am EDT. Jul 16, , am EDT. Edit Story. Sep 8, , am EDT. Ethan Siegel Senior Contributor. Public domain. Follow me on Twitter. All this scattering mixes the colors together again so we see more white and less blue.

As the Sun gets lower in the sky, its light is passing through more of the atmosphere to reach you. Even more of the blue light is scattered, allowing the reds and yellows to pass straight through to your eyes. Sometimes the whole western sky seems to glow. The sky appears red because small particles of dust, pollution, or other aerosols also scatter blue light, leaving more purely red and yellow light to go through the atmosphere.

For example, Mars has a very thin atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide and filled with fine dust particles. During the daytime, the Martian sky takes on an orange or reddish color. But as the Sun sets, the sky around the Sun begins to take on a blue-gray tone. The top image shows the orange-colored Martian sky during the daytime and the bottom image shows the blue-tinted sky at sunset. Nicely done. Like Like. Bob and Al, man those two are always up to no good. You are commenting using your WordPress.

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