• Question: why is the sunset pink

    Asked by anon-186307 to Verity, Trystan, Raquel, Danny, Catherine, Andy on 11 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Verity Hill

      Verity Hill answered on 11 Nov 2018:

      As the sun sets, there are more air particles that the light has to pass through. These divert the light differently to when the sun is high in the sky. This directs the blue light away from your eyes, and the light that is left is red and orange!

    • Photo: Danny Ward

      Danny Ward answered on 11 Nov 2018:

      The colour of the sky is all down to how light particles travel. Its blue during the day due to Raleigh scattering. More blue particles scatter and hit out eyes. In the evening however, the earth is at a different angle to the sun. The scattering is different. This results in the scattering of more pink, orange and yellow light particles and so the evening sky can look a beautiful array of colours. To add to this, high levels of atmospheric dust particles that can occur to due to certain atmospheric pressure conditions can further impact light scattering 🌇🌅

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