If you’re a student of meteorology or just another sunset enthusiast on Instagram, you may know that particularly vibrant sunsets seem to accompany the start of the fall season. Though with so many images of spectacular skies permeating your social media feed, you likely have never stopped to wonder what makes fall sunsets so remarkable.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, fall sunsets appear distinctly vibrant due to the sun’s low angle in the sky and unique atmospheric conditions during the autumn months.
One of the major factors is the comparatively cleaner air during the fall compared to the rest of the year. According to the Weather Channel, fall and winter often bring cooler and drier air that tends to reduce the amount of pollutant particles in the air. With fewer pollutants in the air, less light is obstructed, resulting in brighter and more vibrant sunsets.
The red, orange and yellow colors we associate with sunsets are a result of how sunlight interacts with particles in our atmosphere. According to the NOAA, when the sun is low in the sky at sunset, sunlight takes a long path through Earth’s atmosphere. Some colors – like blue, violet and green – are scattered away by air particles, while the other reddish colors make it all the way to our appreciating eyes. Physics students may know that this selective scattering is due to the difference in wavelength across the visible light spectrum.
Next time you post the next brilliant sunset, give a shoutout to the light particles that travelled over 90 million miles just for you to see a beautiful sunset!
