Some of my best memories were during sunset. Tailgating at a summer evening concert, a dusky fall hike and a driving up to my senior prom with my best friends. Sunsets are so beautiful, but how do they become so beautiful?

There are so many different kinds of sunsets. One sunset can have multiple colors in it. For example, there can be red, blue, orange, purple and even pink. These colors can create sunsets that can take your breath away. However, every night there is a sunset, but we don’t get to see it.

According to an article on National Geographic, what we see with our eyes are only a small part of the electromagnetic radiation that is given off by the sun. The radiation that comes from the sun contains a wide spectrum of wavelengths, but our eyes are only sensitive to the visible wavelengths. All of these wavelengths associate with different colors.

I took this photo during a plane ride to Dallas

So there is actually a good sunset every night we just can’t see it from the ground sometimes. For example, if you have ever taken an airplane during sunset, the sunset that you see from there most likely can not be seen on the ground. This is because when you are on the ground, you are still in the atmosphere’s “boundary layer.” In this “boundary layer” all of the large particles, like pollution, have no where to go, so they mask the sunset. However, when you are in an airplane, you are able to experience the sunset simply because the air is cleaner.

Another interesting question that arises surrounding sunsets is why we certain colors like red and orange during sunsets then during other times of the day.

Something called “scattering” occurs when a beam of sunlight hits a molecule and sends only some of the light’s wavelengths if all different directions. This event occurs over and over again before we can see the full sunset. The two main molecules that are found in air, oxygen and nitrogen, are way smaller than the wavelengths of the incoming light. So oxygen and nitrogen scatter in the smallest wavelengths, which happen to be blue and purple. That is why during the day, the sky is blue.

On the other hand, sunset is a different story. The light takes a longer path through the atmosphere to your eye because the sun is not overhead. This slight difference makes a huge difference when it come to our eyes. The blues that were scattered in the sky all during the day have not reach the West Coast and therefore leave an un proportional amount of oranges and reds here in Pennsylvania.

Beautiful sunset over Barcelona this past March

No matter the science behind sunsets, they are beautiful. They a great way to spend time with friends and just take in he the beauty of the moment.