Green flash

This article is about the optical phenomenon. For other uses, see Green flash (disambiguation).

"Green ray" redirects here. For Jules Verne novel, see The Green Ray. For 1986 film, see The Green Ray (film).

The development of a green flash at sunset in San Francisco

Green flash in Santa Cruz, California

The stages of a green flash

A mock-mirage green flash observed in San Francisco, California

Green flashes and green rays are optical phenomena that sometimes occur right after sunset or right before sunrise. When the conditions are right, a green spot is visible above the upper rim of the disk of the sun. The green appearance usually lasts for no more than a second or two. Rarely, the green flash can resemble a green ray shooting up from the sunset (or sunrise) point. Green flashes occur because the atmosphere can cause the light from the sun to separate out into different colors. Green flashes are a group of phenomena which stem from slightly different causes, and therefore some types of green flashes are more common than others.

While observing at the Vatican Observatory in 1960 D.K.J. O'Connell produced the first color photographs of a green flash at sunset.

Observing

Green flashes may be observed from any altitude. They usually are seen at an unobstructed horizon, such as over the ocean, but are possible over cloud tops and mountain tops as well. They may occur at any latitude, although at the equator the flash rarely lasts longer than a second.

A green flash also may be observed in association with the Moon and bright planets at the horizon, including Venus and Jupiter. With an unrestricted view of the horizon, green flashes are regularly seen by airline pilots, particularly when flying westwards as the sunset is slowed. If the atmosphere is layered the green flash may appear as a series of flashes.

Explanation

Green flashes are enhanced by mirage, which increase refraction. A green flash is more likely to be seen in stable, clear air, when more of the light from the setting sun reaches the observer without being scattered. One might expect to see a blue flash, since blue light is refracted most of all, and the blue component of the sun's light is therefore the very last to disappear below the horizon, but the blue is preferentially scattered out of the line of sight, and the remaining light ends up appearing green.

With slight magnification a green rim on the top of the solar disk may be seen on most clear-day sunsets, although the flash or ray effects require a stronger layering of the atmosphere and a mirage, which serves to magnify the green from a fraction of a second to a couple of seconds.

Types

The "green flash" description relates to a group of optical phenomena, some of which are listed below:

Type	Characteristics	Conditions	Best seen from...
Inferior-mirage flash	Joule's "last glimpse"; oval, flattened below; lasts 1 or 2 seconds	Surface warmer than the overlying air	Close to sea level
Mock-mirage flash	Indentations seem to "pinch off" a thin, pointy strip from the upper rim of the Sun; lasts 1 or 2 seconds	Atmospheric inversion layer below eye level; surface colder than air	The higher the eye, the more likely; flash is most obvious when the eye is just above the inversion.
Sub-duct flash	Large upper part of an hourglass-shaped Sun turns green for up to 15 seconds;	Observer below a strong atmospheric inversion	In a narrow height interval just below a duct (can occur at any height)
Green ray	Green beam of light either shooting up or seen immediately after sundown; usually few degrees long, lasting several seconds	Hazy air and a bright green flash acting as a light source	Sea level

The majority of flashes observed are inferior-mirage or mock-mirage effects, with the others constituting only 1% of reports. Some types not listed in the table above, such as the cloud-top flash (seen as the sun sinks into a coastal fog, or at distant cumulus clouds), are not understood.

Blue flashes

Not to be confused with Blue glow.

Rarely, the amount of blue light is sufficient to be visible as a "blue flash". An explanation for the blue flash has not yet been identified.

Green rim

The upper rim is green while the lower one is red, as the sun sets behind the Golden Gate Bridge.

The green rim and flashes of a setting sun

As an astronomical object sets or rises in relation to the horizon, the light it emits travels through Earth's atmosphere, which works as a prism separating the light into different colors. The color of the upper rim of an astronomical object could go from green to blue to violet depending on the decrease in concentration of pollutants, as they spread throughout an increasing volume of atmosphere. The lower rim of an astronomical object is always red.
A green rim is very thin and is difficult or impossible to see with the naked eye. In usual conditions, a green rim of an astronomical object gets fainter when an astronomical object is very low above the horizon because of atmospheric reddening, but sometimes the conditions are right to see a green rim just above the horizon. The following quote describes what was probably the longest observation of a green rim, which at times could have been a green flash. It was seen on and off for 35 minutes by members of the Richard Evelyn Byrd party from the Antarctic Little America exploration base in 1934:

There was a rush for the surface and as eyes turned southward, they saw a tiny but brilliant green spot where the last ray of the upper rim of the sun hung on the skyline. It lasted an appreciable length of time, several seconds at least, and no sooner disappeared than it flashed forth again. Altogether it remained on the horizon with short interruptions for thirty-five minutes.
When it disappeared momentarily it seemed to have been shut off by a tiny spurt, an inequality in the skyline caused by the barrier surface.
Even by moving the head up a few inches it would disappear and reappear again and after it had finally disappeared from view it could be recaptured by climbing up the first few steps of the antanea [sic] post.

For the explorers to have seen a green rim on and off for 35 minutes there must have been some mirage effect present.

A green rim is present at every sunset but it is too thin to be seen with the naked eye. Often a green rim changes to a green flash and back again during the same sunset. The best time to observe a green rim is about 10 minutes before sunset. That is too early to use any magnification like binoculars or a telescope to look directly at the Sun without potential harm to the eyes. (Of course, a magnified image might be projected onto a sheet of paper for safe viewing.) As the sun gets closer to the horizon, the green rim becomes fainter due to atmospheric reddening. According to the above, it is probably correct to conclude that although a green rim is present during every sunset, a green flash is rarer because of the required mirage.

See also

• Mirage of astronomical objects
• Jules Verne's novel The Green Ray, 1882, which popularized the green flash
• The Green Ray - a film that uses the green flash (and Verne's book) as a plot device
• David Winstanley, "Atmospheric Refraction and the Last Rays of the Setting Sun", reported at Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society Meeting, 7 October 1873
• Sir Arthur Schuster, Letter to NATURE 21 Feb. 1915 referring to his observation of the phenomenon on a voyage in the Indian Ocean in 1875
• Captain Alfred Carpenter & Captain D. Wilson-Barker, “Nature Notes for Ocean Voyagers” (London, 1915) reported on page 147
• Victoria Holt's 1976 novel "Pride of the Peacock", which uses both the green flash and an opal named for the phenomenon as plot devices.
• William S. Burroughs's 1981 novel Cities of the Red Night
• The 2007 movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, another film that features green flashes as a plot point

External links

• A Green Flash Page, Andrew T. Young's page with comprehensive explanations and simulations
• Green Flash - Atmospheric Optics, explanations and image gallery, Les Cowley's Atmospheric Optics site
• A Green Flash from Astronomy Picture of the Day, NASA
• 06/03/2010 Photograph of a green flash over the Indian Ocean
• Green Flash Videos