What Causes the ‘Bleeding’ of the Sky at Dusk?

At sunset, the sky turns red or orange because sunlight has to travel a longer path through Earth's atmosphere. As light travels farther, blue light gets scattered more and disappears, leaving behind red and orange light to paint the sky like a watercolor painting. Imagine the sun is a painter and the sky is the canvas, it’s like the painter is using warm colors to finish their masterpiece.

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Examples

A sunset looks like a painting because the sky changes colors as if it's being painted with red and orange.
Imagine your favorite candy bar melting into the sky and turning everything around you colorful.
At dusk, the sky looks like it's bleeding red because the light has traveled through more air.

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Categories: Science · optics,atmosphere,sunlight