Why is the sky never the same color blue as the sun sets or rises?

Question

Why is the sky never the same color blue as the sun sets or rises?

Answer 1

I know it's blue because of scattering, and I'm just guessing, but it might be do to the way light passes through the atmosphere at that time.

Answer 2

Because when the sun is rising or setting, sunlight has to go through much more air than it does on noon, for instance. The more air light passes through, the more color it will leave in the air, because of Rayleigh scattering; first, the more energetic colors are scattered: violet and blue. - our eyes see blue better, that's why we see the sky as blue. As the sun approaches the horizon, we get a bland bright color, like a pale blue, which is the combo of medium colors, like yellow and green, which our eyes are very sensitive to. Then, when the sun is really down, we get the oranges and reds, when nearly all other colors have been scattered away of the sunlight. It's a nice thing to watch too... sometimes, when the sun is setting, if you look the other way, you'll see a colorful band, called the belt of Venus... there you can see all the colors of sky (in some days =D) from deep blues, to purple, oranges and red. And below them is a dark shadow - Earth's shadow (I find it amazing to imagine the ground I'm standing on projecting a shadow into the air - it gives me a sense of awe, a perspective of how great is our world)

BTW, I love the sky.                  (does it show?)

Answer 3

well actually ; when the sun sets or rises , at the both times it is on the horizon , which means that part of the earth is at a more distance from the earth than the rest ; Under this conditions , red color light is scattered more ( because pure sunlight is white in color & white light is made of 7 colors namely : Red , orange , yellow, green , blue, indigo & violet ( colors of the rainbow) But when the sun is not at the horizon the blue component is scattered the most & hence sky appears blu most of the time ; but when the sun is at the horizon ; the red component is scattered most & hence the sky appears red)

HOPE  THAT  ANSWERS  THE  QUESTION  ^_^

Answer 4

because if it were it would b invivible n u wunt be able 2 c it dumb dumb!

Answer 5

as light passes through our atmosphere the light bends, producing blue looking skies...when the sun is at diffrent positions relative to the earth, more or less light is bent, and thus the shading effect is either stronger or weaker.

Answer 6

The intense red and orange hues of the sky at sunset and sunrise are mainly caused by scattering of sunlight off of dust particles, soot particles, other solid aerosols, and liquid aerosols floating in the earth's atmosphere. These enhanced red and orange colors at sunset and sunrise are mathematically explained by Mie theory or the discrete dipole approximation. When there are no particulates in the troposphere, such as after a big rain storm, then the remaining less intense reds are explained by Rayleigh Scattering of sunlight off of air molecules. The brilliance and intensity of the colors of sunsets are typically greater than sunrises, since there are generally more particles in the evening air than in the morning air. Nightime air is usually cooler and less windy which allows the dust and soot particles to settle out of the atmosphere, reducing the amount of Mie Scattering and the amount of red and orange scattered light at sunrise. Sunrise color intensities can however exceed sunset's intensities when there are nighttime fires, volcanic eruptions or emissions, or dust storms to the east of the viewer. A number of eruptions in recent times, such as those of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and Krakatoa in 1883, have been sufficiently large to produce remarkable sunsets and sunrises all over the world.

Answer 7

Atmosphere, atmosphere, and even more atmosphere.