What Causes the ‘Golden’ Color of a Sunset?

Sunset looks golden because light travels through more air when the sun is low. When the sun is high in the sky, blue light goes straight to us. But at sunset, it takes a long path through Earth's atmosphere, and most of the blue gets scattered away, leaving reds and oranges to shine through.

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Examples

A sunset looks like a painting when blue light gets scattered out of the sky.
Red apples seem more colorful at sunset because red light isn't scattered as much.
The sun appears bigger near the horizon because it's refracted through more air.

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Categories: Physics · optics,light,atmosphere