A Green Flash from the Sun
Many think it is just a myth.
Others think it is true but its cause isn't known.
Adventurers pride themselves on having seen it.
It's a green flash from the
Sun.
The truth is the
green flash
does exist and its cause is well understood.
Just as the setting
Sun disappears completely from view,
a last glimmer appears startlingly
green.
The effect is typically visible only from locations with a low,
distant horizon, and lasts just a few seconds.
A green flash is also visible for a rising
Sun, but takes better timing to spot.
A dramatic
green flash, as well as an even more rare
blue flash, was caught in the
above photograph recently
observed
during a sunset visible from
Teide Observatory at
Tenerife,
Cannary Islands,
Spain.
The Sun itself does not turn
partly
green or blue --
the effect is caused by layers of the
Earth's atmosphere acting like a prism.