Layer Cake Sunset
Explanation:
On January 18 a tantalizing sunset was captured in this snapshot.
Seemingly
sliced into many horizontal layers the Sun shimmered
moments before it touched the horizon, setting
over the Pacific Ocean as seen from the
mountaintop Las Campanas
Observatory in Chile.
Pink hues of filtered sunlight were created by the long sight-line
through the hazy atmosphere.
But the
remarkable layers correspond to low atmospheric layers of
sharply different temperature and density also along the line of sight.
Over a long path through each layer the rays of sunlight
are refracted
strongly and create different images or mirages of sections of the
setting Sun.
Participate: Take an
Aesthetics &
Astronomy Survey
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
