snake island in honda bay palawan
why does the sun appear red during sunset?
good question cockroach! the answer is due to an effect called
rayleigh scattering. particles in our atmosphere that are approximately the same size as the wavelength of visible light cause the white light from the sun to scatter and split into individual components. oxygen and nitrogen (the main components of our atmosphere btw) scatter violet and blue light due to their small size. this is why the sky appears to be blue in the day time, especially at midday when the sun is closest to us.
during sunrise and sunset the distance that the light has to travel from the sun to an observer is at its greatest. This means the a large amount of blue and violet light has been scattered so the light that is received by an observer is mostly of a longer wavelength and therefore appears to be reddish...
... and of course philippine sunset is one of those that are beyond fascinating!
pangasinan sunset
puerto galera sunset
cebu sunset
pagudpud sunset
boracay sunset
the manila bay sunset
[photo sources:
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