Prompt Cast
The Science Behind Why the Sky is Blue
TLDR The sky appears blue due to the scattering of shorter wavelengths of light by molecules in our atmosphere, particularly oxygen and nitrogen. This phenomenon, known as Rayleigh Scattering, explains why the sky can appear red, yellow, or orange at sunrise or sunset, and why the sky on other planets, like Mars, can have different colors.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The reason why the sky is blue was not known until the 19th century, and one traditional explanation that it was due to the reflection of water in the oceans is incorrect.
01:26
The reason why the sky is blue is due to the nature of light and the composition of our atmosphere.
02:42
The distribution of light from the sun, which includes ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths, is spread over a wide spectrum, with the peak of the curve located around where green and blue light meet, making blue light close to the most dominant color emitted by the sun.
03:54
Rayleigh Scattering, discovered by Lord Rayleigh, explains that the blue color in the sky is due to the scattering of shorter wavelengths of light by molecules in the atmosphere.
05:10
The sky is blue because the oxygen and nitrogen molecules in our atmosphere scatter shorter wavelengths of light, and the sun produces more blue light. However, at sunrise or sunset, the sky can appear red, yellow, or orange due to the scattering of shorter wavelength colors and the longer wavelength colors reaching our eyes.
06:26
The sky can turn green before a tornado due to the scattering of the green part of the spectrum by water molecules, and the sky on Mars is different because of the composition and pressure of its atmosphere.
07:38
Different planets, including Mars, can have different colored skies depending on the composition of their atmosphere and the light profile from their star.
