Have you ever seen the “Green Flash”? It may be seen either in the early morning at sunrise (the best time)or in the evening at sunset (ok time) over the ocean. Where the sun rises, the atmosphere should be clear of clouds and fog.
The “Green Flash”, Cocoa Beach Hilton Hotel, FL USA July, 2017 . © Dr. Kenneth Michael Beck
What Wikipedia says,
“The green flash and green ray are meteorological optical phenomena that sometimes occur transiently around the moment of sunset or sunrise. When the conditions are right, a distinct green spot is briefly visible above the upper rim of the Sun‘s disk; the green appearance usually lasts for no more than two seconds. Rarely, the green flash can resemble a green ray shooting up from the sunset or sunrise point. Green flashes occur because the Earth’s atmosphere can cause the light from the Sun to separate, or refract, into different colors. Green flashes are a group of similar phenomena that stem from slightly different causes, and therefore, some types of green flashes are more common than others…”
The green flash occurs because of refraction of the Sun’s light by the atmosphere as the Earth revolves into a new day or ends an old one. As it is the only light during a sunrise green flash event, and because human eyes are most sensitive to green light as opposed to blues and reds, it lights the whole sky. For real…THE WHOLE SKY!
