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You are here: Home / Universe / Why Are Sunsets Red and the Sky Blue?

Why Are Sunsets Red and the Sky Blue?

April 11, 2020 by Karen Hill

Billions of dust and water particles are constantly floating in the air. The sky gets its color from the sun, whose sunlight is a mixture of violet, blue, red, green, yellow, and orange rays, all the colors of the rainbow.

When the sun is high in the sky, these red-orange-yellow light rays stream down to earth from the sun, and we see the sun as yellow. But the violet-blue-green rays behave differently, they do not stream down directly to earth. Instead, they are mattered by the dust and water particles in the air. So when we look up, we see the blue light rays reflected by the particles, or a blue sky.

When the sun is sinking low near the horizon at sunset, the violet-bluegreen light rays follow an even longer, scattered path in the atmosphere than during the day. So we see more reds and yellows, which make the sunset look red.

Volcanic eruptions spread unusually large amounts of dust particles into the atmosphere and create even brighter red sunsets!

Related Facts

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  • Does the Moon Ever Really Turn Blue?
  • Why Is the Ocean Blue and Is It Just a Reflection of the Sky?
  • Why is the sky blue and why is a sunset red when air is colorless?
  • Why Is the Sky Blue On a Clear Day and How Does Rayleigh Scattering Cause the Red Colors At Sunset?
  • What Does the Rhyme “Red Sky At Morning, Sailors Take Warning, Red Sky At Night, Sailors’ Delight” Mean?

Filed Under: Universe

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Which Is Bigger the Sun or the Moon?
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