The Secret Magic Behind Our Bright Blue Sky

Have you ever looked up and wondered about the color of the sky?

Many people think the sky reflects the color of the ocean.

However, science tells us a much more interesting story.

The sun sends white light down toward our planet every day.

White light actually contains all the colors of the rainbow.

When this light hits the atmosphere, it meets many tiny gas molecules.

These molecules scatter the light in every direction.

Blue light travels in shorter and smaller waves than other colors.

Because of this, blue light scatters much more than red or yellow light.

This process is called Rayleigh scattering by scientists.

Our eyes see this scattered blue light from every part of the sky.

Closer to the horizon, the sky often looks a lighter blue or white.

This happens because the light must travel through even more air.

At sunset, the light has to travel a long distance to reach us.

Then we see beautiful reds and oranges instead of the usual blue.