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Credit & Copyright: Danilo Pivato
(Beyond the Moon)
Explanation:
How could the Sun turn green?
Difficult to observe, the momentary
green flash above the rising or setting sun
has been documented as
a phenomenon caused by the atmospheric bending or refraction of sunlight.
Like a weak
prism,
the Earth's atmosphere breaks white sunlight into colors, bending red colors slightly and green and blue colors
through increasingly larger angles.
When the sky is clear, agreen flash just above the sun's edge can sometimes be
seen for a second or so,
when the sun is close to a distant horizon.
Still, from a site atop
Mt. Autore (altitude 1,850 meters) in Italy
astrophotographer Danilo Pivato captured
this dramatic green flash movie.
The time between frames varies from over one minute in the beginning to about one
second as the flash becomes visible.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: green flash
Publications with words: green flash
See also: