What Causes the ‘Pink’ of Sunset?

The sky turns pink during sunset because light travels through more air when the sun is low.

When the sun is high in the sky, its light goes straight down to us, but when it’s near the horizon, it has to travel much farther through the Earth's atmosphere. This long journey makes some of the colors in the light fade away, like a rainbow losing some of its brightness.

Light is made of different colors, and each color acts a little differently as it moves through air. The blue and green parts of light are scattered more easily, leaving behind the reds and oranges, which give us that beautiful pink or orange glow in the sky.

Imagine you're watching a fire go out. At first, it’s bright and yellow, but as it fades, it turns softer and redder. That's kind of what happens with the sun during sunset, the light gets "tired" from traveling so far, and we see its warm colors more clearly.

Sometimes, the sky even looks purple or red if there are clouds to catch the light like a blanket catching fire. It’s nature doing a little dance with light! The sky turns pink during sunset because light travels through more air when the sun is low.

When the sun is high in the sky, its light goes straight down to us, but when it’s near the horizon, it has to travel much farther through the Earth's atmosphere. This long journey makes some of the colors in the light fade away, like a rainbow losing some of its brightness.

Light is made of different colors, and each color acts a little differently as it moves through air. The blue and green parts of light are scattered more easily, leaving behind the reds and oranges, which give us that beautiful pink or orange glow in the sky.