Why are sunrises and sunsets so magically colored?

Question

Why are sunrises and sunsets so magically colored?

Answer 1

I cannot answer it without type up like 6 page of text

to put it a simple way, the color of the sun at rise and set is a phenomena of light diffraction.

a typical white light consist many colors, when some color are diffracted, your eye only sees the remaining color. At sun rise and set, the remaining is the color of red, orange, yellow which have longer wavelength. (meaning harder to get diffracted)

colors you usually see in a white light are like the colors of rainbow, and green, blue, purple are diffracted at sun rise and set

Answer 2

Wavelengths toward the blue end of the spectrum are absorbed more by dust etc suspended in the atmosphere.  Wavelengths toward the red end are absorbed less.

Light from the setting or rising sun travels obliquely through the atmosphere so travels further.  More blue/green/indigo/violet light is absorbed, leaving red/orange/yellow light.  What we see as reddish sunsets is the full wavelength of light minus the blue end, meaning we see red sunsets and sunrises.

Answer 3

When the sun rises and sets, you're looking edge-on through the Earth's atmosphere and thus there is more of it between you and the Sun than there is in the middle of the day. The light gets disassociated a bit more by the pollutants and such that you're looking through.