Flash of Light: Causes of Appearance

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Those who have ever followed the sunset to the very last moment, when the upper edge of the disk touches the horizon line, and then completely disappears, could see an amazing natural phenomenon. At this moment, in clear weather and clear skies, the luminary casts its amazing last ray.

General information

For our eyes, the atmosphere appears as a huge air prism, facing down with its base. In the sun near the horizon it looks through a gas prism. At the top, the solar disk gets a green and blue border, and at the bottom - yellow-red.

When the Sun is above the horizon, the brightness of the disk's light interrupts the less bright multi-colored stripes, so we do not notice them. However, when the Sun rises and sets, when the disk is practically hidden behind the horizon, you can also see the blue border of its upper edge. Moreover, it is two-color: below - a blue stripe (from mixing green and blue rays), and above - blue.

What is the name of the flash of light at the moment of disappearancesolar disk? You can learn more about this optical phenomenon by reading this article.

A little about the optical phenomena associated with the sun

The spectrum of the sun's rays, consisting of a huge variety of colors, is continuous. Violet, blue, blue and green rays have the property of refraction in the earth's atmosphere more than red and yellow. Related to this is that the first rays that appear at sunrise (green and blue) are also the last rays of the sun at sunset.

The blue beam is practically not observed in the atmosphere due to its strong scattering. The same green beam is an extremely rare phenomenon that manifests itself as a green flash of light at the moment the sun disappears behind the horizon or, conversely, it appears from behind the horizon.

A rare natural phenomenon or an optical illusion?

Many legends have been built about the famous magical "Green Ray" since ancient times. These are mostly tales of happiness.

Many peoples have a legend according to which those who see the "Green Ray" at the last moment of sunset will forever have a rich and happy fate, bringing only joy in life.

The lucky ones are mostly travelers and sailors. Even the famous writer Jules Verne, in his novel called The Green Ray, presented a wonderful natural phenomenon. His many characters were eager to see this miracle in order to become masters of fate and possess huge treasures thanks to it.

In many known cases, greena flash of light beyond the horizon appears for a brief moment, like a fairy tale ghost.

The story of the Green Beam

There is a very curious story about the "Green Ray" passing from generation to generation. She was once heard by a famous businessman and could not forget. It so happened that his business was greatly shaken. Nobody took his goods, so he was in the deepest despair.

One day, going through all the ways to improve his situation, he accidentally remembered that legend and went on a trip by sea to calm down and get the most out of pleasant experiences. There was also hope that you would be lucky to see the magical "Green Ray of Happiness" and get rich. He invited his friends on a trip, who agreed to a rather long voyage.

Daily they watched the sunset. A week has passed, but no one has seen this miracle. Desperate, they had already stopped watching the sunset, but the businessman himself was patient with this occupation and did not miss a single evening. With an obsession, he went out on deck every evening as if to work.

There was a flash of light. His patience and perseverance were richly rewarded. Nevertheless, he saw a fabulously beautiful green glow on the edge of the disk of the setting sun. The sight of this caused him indescribable delight. For some time he was in a real euphoric shock, because he achieved his goal. Then, after seeing a miracle, he returned home, after which his affairs began to improve. And he connected it all with that very beautiful rayhappiness.

Literally after a short period of time, he became fabulously rich. The friends who accompanied him on the journey began to regret that they were lazy and did not go on deck that significant evening. Apparently, the green lucky ray illuminates the path only for the chosen ones - persistent and patient.

What is the flash of light called?

The characteristic color of the sunset is due to the properties of refraction and scattering of sunlight in the Earth's atmospheric layers.

Few people know the optical phenomenon called "green beam". It occurs during sunset and is also associated with the passage of light in the earth's atmosphere. This is a unique natural phenomenon - the appearance of green light, which manifests itself in extremely rare cases and only in certain places.

Where can I see it?

For the most part, you can see the green beam above the water surface of the ocean or sea. It only shows up for a moment. In central Russia, it can be observed extremely rarely and only with a combination of almost all favorable factors.

The most ideal place for observation, in addition to the water surface of the seas and oceans, can be the steppe, desert and mountains.

Conditions and obstacles

To see a very rare unusual optical phenomenon with your own eyes, you need an open horizon, clean air and no clouds. Such a miracle can be seen every day under all these conditions.

The main obstacle to observing the mysterious green beam is its scattering on suspended particles of dust, fog, smoke and other natural air pollution, as well as on inhomogeneities in the airspace.

In addition to the above, the length from the point of entry of sunlight into the Earth's atmosphere to the place of observation should be considerable, therefore, as noted above, it is best to observe such a phenomenon at sunrise and sunset precisely on huge expanses of water.

A flash of green light in a wooded area and in the steppe is almost invisible.

In addition to the above conditions, there must be no updrafts in the atmosphere to detect such an unusual phenomenon.

Origin

The flash of light lasts only for a few seconds. At the moment of the disappearance of the solar circle, the so-called refraction of the rays of the Sun in the atmosphere occurs. Rays of light passing through the atmosphere, bending, decompose into several primary colors. This happens because red rays are refracted less than green and blue ones. The angle of refraction of the rays in this case increases as the Sun approaches the horizon.

When the atmosphere is calm, the “stretching” of the spectrum from the uppermost (violet) to the red (lower) edge reaches 30“. On such a long path through the lower atmospheric layers, a large mass of orange and yellow rays are absorbed by oxygen molecules and water vapor, and blue and violet are much weakened.due to scattering. Therefore, mostly greens and reds remain, which leads to the fact that two disks of the Sun, red (for the most part) and green, become visible, but they do not completely overlap each other. In this regard, at the very last moment, before the disk disappears beyond the horizon, just when its red part is completely below the horizon, the upper edge of the green band is visible for a short time. In very clean air, a blue ray can also be seen. The green beam can also be seen at sunrise.

About the signs of a unique phenomenon

G. A. Tikhov (Pulkovo astronomer) devoted special studies to the "green ray", thanks to which he determined some signs in which it is likely to see this natural phenomenon.

1. If at sunset the Sun has a reddish color and is easy to observe with a simple eye, then you can be sure that the green beam will not manifest itself. The reason for this is clear: such a bright color of the disk indicates that there was a strong scattering in the atmosphere of green and blue rays (the entire upper rim of the disk).

2. If the Sun does not change its usual whitish-yellow color and sets very bright beyond the horizon (this means that the absorption of rays in the atmospheric layers is small). In this case, there is a high probability that a flash of light will occur, it will be possible to see a green beam. But for this it is important that the horizon has a sharp, even line, without buildings, forests, etc. Therefore, this ray is quite well known to many, namelyseafarers.

Conclusion

In southern countries, the sky near the horizon is much more transparent than in more northern countries, so a flash of light ("green beam") is observed there more often. And in Russia, this happens not so rarely, as many people think, perhaps under the influence of the writer Jules Verne.

In any case, persistent and patient search for the "green beam" is rewarded with success. Some have been able to catch this mesmerizing phenomenon even with a regular spotting scope.