Exam 20: Light Color and Atmospheric Optics

Which atmospheric phenomenon below is produced by the diffraction of light around small water droplets?

Volcanic eruptions rich in sulfur produce yellow sunsets.

If the setting Sun appears red,you may conclude that ____.

Explain why the sky is blue during the day and black at night.

When the atmosphere becomes loaded with particles,only the longest red wavelengths are able to penetrate the atmosphere,so we see a red Sun.

What color would the sky be if air molecules selectively scattered only the longest wavelengths of visible light?​

The duration of twilight decreases with increasing latitude,especially in summer.

Sun pillars are caused by refraction of sunlight off ice crystals.

When a star appears to twinkle or flicker,it is a condition called ____________________.​

Which statement is true about rainbows?

Haze can scatter light from the rising or setting Sun in a way that produces bright light beams,or ____________________ rays,radiating across the sky.​

Air molecules selectively scatter visible light because ____.

Atmospheric mirages are created by light passing through and being ____________________ by air layers of different densities.​

Red sunsets,blue moons,and milky-white skies are mainly the result of ____.

The breaking up of white light by "selective" refraction is called dispersion of light.

Each air molecule of oxygen and nitrogen is a selective scatterer in that each scatters longer waves of visible light much more effectively than shorter waves.

____ lasts from sunset until the sun is 6° below the horizon.

What can make a setting (or rising)Sun appear red?

The blue color of distant mountains is due primarily to ____.

The blue color of the sky is due to ____.