The Green Flash Strikes Again

Watching the sun set in Marathon is an event not to be missed.  If the sunset is particularly spectacular, a round of applause and cheers can be heard bouncing across the water.  Wednesday night, Steve saw the “Green Flash.”  The flash is visible for just a second or two.

When we watch the sun as it sets, the image we see as the sun slowly slipping below the water’s surface is actually  image created by the bent light rays from the sun which is already down behind the horizon.  Higher frequency lights are bent more easily than lower frequency lights as the sun passes through the Earth’s atmosphere.  The redder hues of the color spectrum of light are blocked by the horizon first followed by yellow, green, blue and violet.  Because a haze removes violet and blue,  the last visible light is a flash of green.  

I did not see the green flash on Wednesday night but that did not make the sunset any less spectacular for me.    I will be out again on Thursday trying to catch the Green Flash!