<p>Sunsets are red because the sky is blue.</p>

<p>Air, while it appears colorless actually scatters light just a bit. This is not the same as absorbing the light, but more like how light is scattered by fog.  If you are driving through fog with your headlights on, part of the light from their beams bounces off the fog particles and lights up the fog well outside the beam and some of it even bounces multiple times coming back to your eyes.</p>

<p>Air is much clearer than fog, but it does scatter light just a bit. What's more, it scatters blue light more than green, and green more than yellow, and yellow more than red.  So while the Sun's light in space is quite white, as it passes through the atmosphere on a sunny noonday a lot of the blue light gets scattered, while very little of the red does.  That blue light bounces many times and is the source of the blue sky light.  The loss of that blue light makes the sun appear redder.</p>

<p>At noon, the light comes down from high overhead and passes through a minimal amount of atmosphere and only some of the blue light is scattered. At sunset (and sunrise) the light comes in at a long, low slant and passes through <em>much</em> more of the atmosphere, and nearly all of the blue and even most of the green is scattered (and much light is absorbed, too), leaving mostly red and orange light left.</p>

<p>Hence the reddened sun.</p>

<p>See <a href="https://www.sciencemadesimple.com/sky_blue.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Why Is the Sky Blue?</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencemadesimple.com/space_black_sunset_red.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Why Is the Sunset Red?</a> for a bit more including some diagrams.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-03T00:15:02.410Z
2019-04-03T00:15:02.410Z
Mark Olson
<p>Neither. As @User123 <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/30206/why-does-the-sun-show-different-colour-at-midday-and-at-morning#comment55288_30206">commented</a>, it depends on the angle between where you are and the Sun. If the Sun is low in the sky, sunlight has to travel through much more of the atmosphere than at midday when the Sun is higher in the sky. The intensity of the Sun is basically constant, and the distance from the Sun does not vary between morning and midday.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-02T23:47:58.600Z
2019-04-19T10:59:32.697Z
2019-04-19T10:59:32.697Z
Natsfan
<p>As we see every day in the morning the sun shows a red-orange colour but at midday has a blue-white like colour why?</p>

<p>Is it concerned with the distance from the earth or about intensity? How do you see it?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-02T05:55:32.860Z
See https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/17/why-does-the-sky-change-color-why-is-the-sky-blue-during-the-day-red-during-su
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-02T18:05:44.407Z
Related: [extinction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_(astronomy)), [air mass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_mass_(astronomy)). I think this is on topic.
Mike G
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-02T23:28:25.363Z
Add to that that the air scatters out more of the blue light (which is why the sky is blue), leaving the reddish light.
Ken G
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-04T12:25:15.507Z
I'll explain very easy: It's just a matter of light and air. Light travels more in the morning through the atmosphere so it lose more energy (becomes red), while it travels less at midday through it so it don't lose so energy (becomes blue). Quite simple. Right?
User123
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-19T06:42:00.160Z
It is ontopic and a good question.
peterh
<astrophysics>
Why does the Sun show different colour at midday and at morning?
Abdellah mohammedamin
# Why does the Sun show different colour at midday and at morning?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-02)

As we see every day in the morning the sun shows a red-orange colour but at midday has a blue-white like colour why?

Is it concerned with the distance from the earth or about intensity? How do you see it?

**Tags:** astrophysics

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: See https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/17/why-does-the-sky-change-color-why-is-the-sky-blue-during-the-day-red-during-su  
> **username_2**: Related: [extinction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_(astronomy)), [air mass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_mass_(astronomy)). I think this is on topic.  
> **username_3**: Add to that that the air scatters out more of the blue light (which is why the sky is blue), leaving the reddish light.  
> **username_4**: I'll explain very easy: It's just a matter of light and air. Light travels more in the morning through the atmosphere so it lose more energy (becomes red), while it travels less at midday through it so it don't lose so energy (becomes blue). Quite simple. Right?  
> **username_5**: It is ontopic and a good question.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-04-03. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Sunsets are red because the sky is blue.

Air, while it appears colorless actually scatters light just a bit. This is not the same as absorbing the light, but more like how light is scattered by fog. If you are driving through fog with your headlights on, part of the light from their beams bounces off the fog particles and lights up the fog well outside the beam and some of it even bounces multiple times coming back to your eyes.

Air is much clearer than fog, but it does scatter light just a bit. What's more, it scatters blue light more than green, and green more than yellow, and yellow more than red. So while the Sun's light in space is quite white, as it passes through the atmosphere on a sunny noonday a lot of the blue light gets scattered, while very little of the red does. That blue light bounces many times and is the source of the blue sky light. The loss of that blue light makes the sun appear redder.

At noon, the light comes down from high overhead and passes through a minimal amount of atmosphere and only some of the blue light is scattered. At sunset (and sunrise) the light comes in at a long, low slant and passes through *much* more of the atmosphere, and nearly all of the blue and even most of the green is scattered (and much light is absorbed, too), leaving mostly red and orange light left.

Hence the reddened sun.

See [Why Is the Sky Blue?](https://www.sciencemadesimple.com/sky_blue.html) and [Why Is the Sunset Red?](https://www.sciencemadesimple.com/space_black_sunset_red.html) for a bit more including some diagrams.


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2019-04-02. Score: 1

Neither. As @username_4 [commented](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/30206/why-does-the-sun-show-different-colour-at-midday-and-at-morning#comment55288_30206), it depends on the angle between where you are and the Sun. If the Sun is low in the sky, sunlight has to travel through much more of the atmosphere than at midday when the Sun is higher in the sky. The intensity of the Sun is basically constant, and the distance from the Sun does not vary between morning and midday.


---

