Grundarfjourdur, Iceland
There has been a common misconception about there being a "sunset." I actually believed that there was one as well before learning the truth in class. Most people believe that seasons are caused by how far away or close the part of the earth is from the sun. The belief is the sun is closer to North America during the summer months while the sun is further away from Southern America resulting in winter there. However, this is false. The earth revolves around the sun and the seasons are caused by the earths tilt.It varies incoming solar radiation (isolation) and that's determined by the solar elevation (sun angle) and length of day. Those both depend on the latitude and time of year. Consequently, in actuality the "sunset" and "sunrise" is just the position of the earth's tilt.
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| The sun disappearing behind the mountains of Grundarfjourdur, Iceland on a winter day. |
This small island is in between mountains and lava fields which create a very vivid picture to admire.
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| A view of the island. You can clearly see the mountain range on the right with lava rocks to the left. |
The different colors of the sky seem unrealistic since we aren't used to seeing our sky look that colorful and vivid on a daily basis. The sky's colors can tell us essential information about the atmosphere. The sun is bright point of light towards earth. The atoms of nitrogen and oxygen affect the sunlight that passes through them which results in scattering the wavelengths of light. The elements of our atmosphere cause an effect on what color is scattered the most for us to see.
\When the sky is clear and blue- You view the white light from the sun and the air during the day meeting with the air molecules in it's path causing us to see the blue sky is distributed across.
When the sky is red- The sun is near the horizon. The blue sky is absorbed and the red light is scattered.
When the sky is black this is due to there being no atmosphere in space which results in no scattered light to reach our eyes.
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| A look at the beautiful night sky over downtown Denver, CO. |
