Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The Sun'll Come Out....Tomorrow...

Check out this beautiful timelapse video of a sunrise over Portland:

I really love this city.

Why do you think sunrises and sunsets are so red? Part of the reason has to do with why the sky is normally blue...and it's NOT the reflection of the ocean. It has to do with the size of blue and the nitrogen and oxygen atoms in the sky. Wait, did I just say the size of BLUE??


This is only visible light, which is only one small part of the electromagnetic spectrum

Light is categorized by its different sizes, and the blue wavelength size just so happens to be the exact same size as nitrogen molecules in the sky (around 450 nanometers, which is 450 BILLIONTHS of a meter, or .000000450 meters - pretty small). As the white light from the sun (which contains all the colors) hits the atmosphere, the blue scatters everywhere because it's the same size!

Blue Sky 
You get the most intense sunlight at noon, so wear your sunscreen! (source)

So that's why the sky is blue in the daytime, but what about sunrise and sunset? The steep angle means that the light travels through a lot more atmosphere before getting to people at the edge of the world where the sun is setting:

This atmosphere to earth size is NOT accurate, the atmosphere is much much thinner, but it gives the right idea. (source)

So:
Sunset
Sunrise and Sunset work the same way. 

 Beautiful city (source has other great photos around Oregon)

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