Who doesn’t love a great sunset? Sitting at the beach or a lake, the sky turns brilliant red, darkens, and soon the stars are out. How about sunrise? Is there a difference? Sunrise or sunset? People are mostly a daylight species. Sure, some of us are up all night and sleep during the day, usually because of work schedules, rarely because some people truly are nocturnal. So on the one hand, the world is a buzz about to go to sleep after a day of activity. At the other end of the day, the world is quiet, few people are out and about, The air is frequently still, it can be a time of quiet contemplation.
Several years ago, on an otherwise nondescript mid summers day with a few clouds floating around, I took my camera out just before sunset for a short stroll. It didn’t take long with the sun near the horizon for the sky to change dramatically in just 20 minutes. First the clouds got a yellow tint.
Then the sky turned brilliant red as the sun now slipped below the horizon from my viewpoint, but direct sunlight is still hitting the clouds.
Then the portion of the clouds not getting direct sun darken significantly while the sunlit portions of the clouds turn an even deeper shade of red
Finally, only a sliver of sunlight is reaching the clouds low on the horizon as darkness descends on the landscape.
Why do sunrises or sunsets turn red? I could go on about Rayleigh scattering, the wavelength of blue light versus red, but you’re probably already bored or soon will be. So if you’re interested, just click either of these links, Rayleigh Scattering, Red sunset.
Yes, people love sunsets. Viewing the sunset from mountain tops gives a whole different experience. The following image was taken from the top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. On this particular evening there were probably 50 people all gathered at the summit to view the sunset from a perch at 13,800 ft (4207 m), high above the lower clouds over the Pacific Ocean. Nearly everybody was facing west as the sun fell below the horizon. As the image below shows, it was indeed a beautiful sunset.
But what does it look like facing the opposite direction of the sun? Instead of catching the last (or first) rays of the sun on your face, what does it look like with the sun at your back? Looking at Shadows instead of the sun. Depending on your perspective, there are a lot of interesting optical effects you can observe. Below is an image taken shortly after sunrise on the Alvord Playa. The shadows are obviously long but notice the slight glow around the shadow of my head. This is the anti solar point and there is slightly more reflection off objects at this point. This increased reflectivity is known as backscatter.
Back to Mauna Kea, while nearly everyone was looking west at the brilliant red clouds and the setting sun, I turned my gaze (and camera) east to watch the shadow of Mauna Kea rise off the clouds and extend into outer space.
Mauna Kea is a classic shield volcano with gradually sloping sides and a rounded peak. The shadow looks just like the profile of the mountain. But in fact, all mountain top shadows look the same no matter the profile shape of the mountain. Click on this link here for a great description of mountain shadows. Just 24 miles (38 km) south of Mauna Kea sits Mauna Loa. Yet the photo above only shows one peaked shadow. Where is the shadow of Mauna Loa? From my perspective on the top of Mauna Kea, no shadow of Mauna Loa is visible, even though the top of Mauna Loa is at nearly the same elevation, and a short distance to the right hand side.
Sunrise? Sunset? Each offers a unique view. Below is a sunrise near Preston, Idaho in the autumn. Morning fog covered the Bear River valley just below my position on the ridge above the river. The fog was no more than 150 ft (45 m) thick.
Frequently the atmosphere at sunrise is a bit clearer than at sunset. During the day with the sun warming the earths surface the air gets mixed up with dust and wind. At night the air at the ground cools and frequently the wind calms down allowing dust to settle. So (generally speaking) there is less dust in the air at sunrise than at sunset. The following is also a sunrise image taken near Preston, Idaho.
It doesn’t matter where on earth you are. It doesn’t matter what season it is. You never know the magnificence of a sunset (or sunrise) until the moment it happens. Clouds form, dissolve, move, creating an ever changing panorama. What is boring one second turns brilliant a few moments later. What is brilliant and spectacular now, quickly dissolves to mundane as clouds move.
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Enjoy, explore, wonder, wander, have fun, be kind, be respectful.
Paul