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Wonders of the Sky

Wonders Of The Sky 2009 Sunset Sky

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Page 1: Wonders Of The Sky 2009 Sunset Sky

Wonders of the Sky

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Wonders of theSunset Sky

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Water Reflection

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Setting Sun

• The setting or rising sun can often appear distorted due to effects of earth’s atmosphere

• The setting or rising sun often appears oval-shaped, and its light is reddened

• The sun can also appear “broken” in separate layers, each created by air of different temperatures

http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~astro/research/sdsun950423.gif

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Oval Setting Sun

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/arc/vt1-1b.jpg

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Eclipsed Setting Sun, Alaska, March 18, 2007

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Green Flashes

• Sometimes the setting sun will emit a green flash, an intense burst of green light

• The green flash is caused by the atmosphere acting as a prism upon the last bit of setting sun

• The green flash is usually only observed as the sun sets over the ocean

http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/papers/JOSA/green.gif

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Crepuscular Rays

• Visible near sunrise or sunset

• Crepuscular rays are a perspective effect, the rays are actually parallel

• Also anti-crepuscular, appear to converge opposite the sun

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~doswell/photopg/crepusc.JPG

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Anticrepuscular Rays

http://epod.usra.edu/archive/images/0507200013.jpg

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Parallel Rays?

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Crepuscular Sunset

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Volcanic Sunsets• Major volcanic eruptions

inject tremendous amounts of dust into the atmosphere

• This dust creates dramatically red that last for months

• The sunset depicted in Munch’s “The Scream” was enhanced due to the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883

Red sunset following Mt.

Pinatubo eruption, 1992

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Sunset Colors

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893

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Volcanic Sunset

• Mt. Kasatochi, AK eruption, Aug 2008

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Kasatochi Sunset, Kansas

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Earth’s Shadow• The earth’s

shadow is often visible for a few minutes after sunset as a dark blue arc rising along the eastern horizon

• When cast upon the moon, the earth’s shadow causes eclipses

• The upper, pinkish edge of the shadow is termed the Belt of Venus

Earth’s shadow at sunset

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Earth’s Shadow & Belt of Venus

http://www.slublog.com/archives/Belt%20of%20Venus.jpg

Belt of Venus

The full moon has just risen

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Summit Shadows on Mountaintops

http://www.mit.edu/people/hilstad/pictures/2002-Aconcagua/Summit_day_shadows_900x600.jpg

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Full Moon Rising

• The full moon can be seen rising in the east as the sun sets in the west,

• Like the low sun, the rising moon often appears oval-shaped, distorted, and reddened

http://www.eyeswideweb.com/gallery/albums/Pawps-visits-Kazza/Rocklands_Moon_rise.sized.jpg

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Red Moonrise

http://amateurastronomy.org/Picts/bobbotts/Moonrise.jpg

Notice the oval shape produced by distortion in earth’s atmosphere

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Moon from Antarctica

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I See a Bad Moon …

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Harvest Moon

• The harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox (Sept 21)

• The Harvest Moon rises only 20 minutes or so later each night

• Moonrises are usually much longer apart on successive evenings

http://cayankee.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/harvest_moon.jpg

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Moon Illusion

• The moon and sky objects appear larger when they are close to the horizon

• In photos, there is no change in size

• Large rising or setting moons are illusory

• Probably results from comparison to land features such as trees and buildings

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Rising Moon

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Man, Rabbit in the Moon

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Moon Ball Player

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Blue Moon

• When a second full moon occurs within the same month, it is termed a blue moon

• This happens every few months

• Other blue moons may have been caused by volcanic dust in the atmosphere

http://www.inconstantmoon.com/cyc_blue.htm

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Rocket Contrail

• Rocket launches at sunset leave visible contrails still illuminated by sunlight

• Composed of ice crystals

• Rocket contrails become distorted by motion of upper air

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Minuteman II Launch, Vista, CA (June ’97)