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Name: Clyde
Status: other
Age: 60s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: Sunday, September 15, 2002
Question:
I have seen the "green flash" at the moment the sun sets over the ocean, while I was sitting on the beach in Maui. I am also aware that there is a physiological reaction related to vision where we can stare at an object for awhile, then look away and see the image in complimentary colors on a light background. Is the green flash actually a shift in the color of the sun as light rays bend around the curved earth, or is it a "perception" of green caused by looking at the orange sun then when it disappears we see the complementary afterimage?

Replies:
Dear Clyde,

I found an incredibly long, thoroughly detailed explanation of this phenomenon when I went to www.askjeeves.com. I typed in the question "Can you tell me about "green flash" at the moment of sunset? The second link it brings up is an article found in the December 2000 Journal of the Optical Society of America. It has great explanations and pictures as well. I hope you find it helpful.

Martha Croll


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