A yellow sky

Published on by bushboy

Ragtag Daily Prompt Tuesday: Sol

A mix of colours in the afternoon sky. Do you know why? Have you heard of Rayleigh Scattering? or Mie Scattering?

This could be a combination of Rayleigh scattering, Mie scattering and the angle of the sun.

Rayleigh scattering is related to the chemical composition of the atmosphere and occurs when the particles causing the scattering are smaller in size than the wavelengths of radiation in contact with them (this is why the sky appears blue most of the time).
The yellow sky is likely mostly owing to Mie scattering. Mie scattering is caused by pollen, dust, smoke, water droplets(the most likely culprit in this case), and other particles in the lower portion of the atmosphere. It occurs when the particles causing the scattering are larger than the wavelengths of radiation in contact with them.
The angle of the sun and Raleigh scattering may also be at play, when the sun is low in the sky sunlight passes through more air than when the sun is higher in the sky.
More atmosphere means more molecules to scatter the violet and blue light away from your eyes. If the path is long enough, all of the blue and violet light scatters out of your line of sight. The other colors continue on their way to your eyes.
This is why sunsets are often yellow, orange, and red.

The above information was found on https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/

31 thoughts on “A yellow sky”

  7. Great shots. My daughter read about this in science class and told me about it a few years ago, and it’s a bit sad pollution is responsible for many of our colorful sunsets.

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    1. Glad you were entertained by this post Susan. There won’t be a quiz later 😂
      I found the right exercises and they work a treat 👍😀

      Like

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