Purple Light

December 29, 2005

20051022sunsettamasfarkas copy

Provided by: Alexandra Farkas
Summary authors & editors: Alexandra Farkas; Jim Foster

This photo showing an enchanting sunset along the Nile River was taken in the early evening of October 22, 2004, from Idfu, Egypt (not so far from Aswan). As the Sun dipped beneath the horizon, the sky turned violet. On occasion, when the Sun is between about 2 degrees and 6 degrees below the horizon (approximately 30 minutes after sunset in the mid-latitudes), the twilight sky may attain a purple or pink glow. This roughly oval-shaped or rounded area of the western sky is believed to result from scattering of sunlight by dust in the stratosphere.

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