Green Flash Observed Through Archway of Torre della Meloria
November 19, 2021
Photographer: Marco Meniero
Summary Author: Marco Meniero
For several years I had hope to be able to take a photo of the green flash through the archway of the Meloria’s Tower (in front of Livorno Town Tuscany, Italy). This flash is a wink of emerald green light that can on occasion be observed just as the Sun disappears below the horizon. The primary challenge was that I had to exactly calculate where to stand to capture the last rays of the setting Sun as it passed through the Tower’s arch. I relied both on my experience to be able to predict the Sun’s position several tens of minutes in advance and also on the PhotoPills app, which worked with extreme precision.
The results are shown above. This photo sequence was captured on the evening of July 20, 2021. If you look at the tower, at far right, you'll notice that even though the solar disk itself was nearly entirely below the horizon, two lateral points remained visible – both were green. The one on the right can be seen exactly through the Torre della Meloria.
The tower dates back to 1709. It consists of four pillars joined by pointed arches on which the body of the tower itself rests on the surface of the sea in such a way to minimize resistance to waves. It was on this stretch of the Ligurian Sea in 1284 that a famous battle took place where the fleet of the Republic of Genoa overwhelmed that of the Republic of Pisa.
Photo details: Canon Eos1DxMk2, EF 400 IS f / 2.8, closed at f / 5, 200 Iso, solar discs shot with a time of 1/2500, Green flash with a time of 1/1000. Date 07-20-2021