Gone in 60 Seconds: A Green Flash Sunset
Video Credit & Copyright:
Tengyu Cai
In 60 seconds, this setting Sun will turn green.
Actually, the top of
the Sun
already appears not only green, but wavey -- along with all of its edges.
The Sun itself is unchanged -- both
effects are caused by
looking along hot and cold layers in Earth's atmosphere.
The unusual color is known as a
green flash
and occurs because these atmospheric layers not only shift background images but disperse colors into slightly different directions, like a
prism.
The featured video was captured earlier this month off the coast of
Hawaii,
USA.
After waiting those 60 seconds,
at the video's end, the upper part of
the Sun seems to hover alone in space,
while turning not only
green, but
blue.
Then suddenly, the Sun appears to shrink to nothing -- only to return tomorrow.