Green beam over the Volga. Green rays of the sun

Most often, the solar disk looks familiar to us: blinding bright white during the day, it turns red in the morning and evening.

green beam, which is also called green lightning, can only be seen by chance. Here is a description of an eyewitness of such a phenomenon. Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, early January 1995. I got up early to watch the sunrise on the beach. Soon, a luminary rose above the sea horizon in the east, but not gradually, as it always happens, but suddenly, as if someone unseen had flipped a switch. I was surprised, but even more struck by the emerald green tones that were visible for several seconds on the upper edge of the sun. Was it the same famous and rare green ray, about which the Scottish legend says that a person who once saw him would never again be mistaken in his feelings?

The ancient Egyptians, who revered the Sun as a deity, depicted green rays on a stone stele 4 thousand years ago, and the French writer Jules Very dedicated to them the novel “Green Ray”, atypical for his work, and described the beauty of this phenomenon in sublime tones: “If there is a green color in paradise, it cannot be otherwise, for it is the true flower of hope.”

However, such higher pleasure can be received not only by "early birds"; a short and colorful spectacle can also take place at sunset, shortly before the luminary disappears over the horizon. But this requires appropriate conditions - a clear horizon, not covered by clouds, and transparent air. Most often this happens at sea and on the coast.

The explanation for this impressive spectacle is the simplest: the scattering and refraction of light in the atmosphere. Many other colorful celestial phenomena are associated with them, including the rainbow.

As you know, sunlight consists of light rays with different wavelengths corresponding to different colors. Violet light has the shortest wavelength, followed by blue, cyan, green, yellow, orange, and finally red long wavelength light. Passing through a layered atmosphere, light is refracted, but the angle of refraction depends on the wavelength: the shorter the wavelength, the stronger the refraction. Thus, it turns out that the strongest refraction is experienced by violet and blue rays, and the least by red ones. But light is not only refracted in the layers of the atmosphere, but also scattered by air. Moreover, mainly violet and blue rays are scattered. There are two obvious consequences from this: the blue color of the sky and orange red color sun on the horizon. As the sun descends towards the horizon, the differences in refraction begin to show up as a narrow green border appears at the top edge of the orange-red disk and a bright red border appears at the bottom edge. And now the sun has almost disappeared behind the horizon, and at this moment only a green border remains visible - a green beam. Everything happens at sunrise reverse order: first a green beam flashes and then the luminary itself appears.

Especially impressive is the phenomenon of green surf, which is sometimes observed in the oceans. A green beam for a few moments turns the foamy wave crests near the horizon green.

In a word, the green beam is not such a rare phenomenon as it is believed. It is only necessary to have accurate information, namely to know when and to know where. That is, to know the time of sunrise or sunset to the nearest second, and it is best to go to the Arctic or Antarctic (for those who can afford it). When the Sun first appears after the long polar night and moves along the horizon, the green beam can be observed for a longer time. During one of the expeditions to Antarctica, the American polar explorer Richard Byrd admired it for 35 minutes.

Refracted sunlight. The sun's rays that enter the Earth's atmosphere under acute angle, do not pass through it in a straight line, but refract and break up into a spectrum of colors. At a certain point in time at sunset, only green light is visible.

A beam like an emerald, The key of golden happiness - I will still get it, My green weak beam ... N. Zabolotsky

I bet that each of us has repeatedly seen the red sky at sunset. Its characteristic color is due to the refraction and scattering of sunlight in the Earth's atmosphere. However, few people have ever seen such an amazing sight - green sunset. This natural event can be observed when the horizon is far away and the air is crystal clear. In most cases, the green beam can be seen only for a moment above the water surface of the sea or ocean, and only sometimes - in the mountains. His appearance in middle lane Ukraine is an extremely rare event and is possible only with successful combination a large number favorable factors. The author of this photo managed to observe and photograph the green beam.

Basically, the lucky ones who had the opportunity to see this are sailors. They believe that his appearance - good omen, a sign of a successful completion of the journey. People believed that the one who saw the green beam would find his happiness. Bright flashes of blue-green color, at the edge of the Sun, leave indelible impressions and memories for a lifetime.

Skeptics consider the green beam to be fiction or an optical illusion. Some believe that this is the reaction of the human eye, tired of contemplating the sun. It is for the latter that the famous popularizer of science Ya. I. Perelman in his book " Entertaining physics not only explains in detail the reason natural phenomenon"green ray", but also cites facts that refute various misconceptions about this. And in our time, when photographic technology makes it possible to capture numerous cases of the appearance of a green beam, doubts seem to have to leave the skeptics.

Causes of this extraordinary spectacle easy to explain based on the knowledge gained in high school . It is known that sunlight consists of a set of electromagnetic waves, each of which has its own frequency and length. A wave of a certain frequency is perceived by the human eye as a color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (every hunter wants to know where the pheasant is sitting). Red color has the largest wavelength in this spectrum, which is about 0.7-0.6 micrometers. For green and purple flowers the wavelength is approximately 0.5 and 0.4 micrometers, respectively. Despite these seemingly small differences in wavelength, the rays different color propagate differently in matter, in particular, they have different velocities. The dependence of the speed of light waves in a substance on their length or frequency is a manifestation of a more general dependence of the speed of the response of a substance to the oscillation frequency electric field in a light wave. In physics, this phenomenon is called dispersion. In most substances and environments, including the earth's atmosphere, red light propagates at a higher speed than blue-green. This dependence, called normal dispersion, corresponds to lower refractive indices for red light than for blue-green. Recall that the refractive index is a value showing how much the speed of light in a substance v is less than in vacuum: n = c/v, where c ≈ 3 108 m/s is the speed of light in vacuum.

And if you also know law of refraction of light, everything is generally simple. According to this law, with an oblique incidence of light on the boundary of media with different refractive indices, the light beam deviates from the original direction of propagation, that is, it is refracted. When a light beam hits from a region with a smaller value of n, for example, from a vacuum, where n = 1, into a medium with great value n the angle of refraction is always less than the angle of incidence. Recall that both angles are counted from the normal (perpendicular) to the interface between the regions. Since the refractive indices for waves of different lengths are different, the angles of refraction will also be different, namely: red light will be refracted less than green. This, in particular, is the reason for the decomposition of white light into a spectrum when it is passed through a glass prism. A similar decomposition of sunlight into a spectrum takes place in the Earth's atmosphere. However, it is only observed in individual cases and in special places. So, at sunset or sunrise, its rays, visible to an observer on Earth, fall obliquely from outer space (vacuum). Since the density of the atmosphere increases as you approach the surface of the Earth, the refractive index of light also increases. Light propagating from space to earth's surface, is constantly refracted, and therefore decomposed into a spectrum, and, as in a glass prism, the rays of red light are refracted least of all. Although the difference in the refractive indices for red and blue-green light rays in the atmosphere is extremely small, but at large distances (hundreds of kilometers), the effect of their separation is quite observable. This is precisely the reason for the appearance of the green beam. Indeed, while the sun is already really below the horizon and its red rays pass above the observer, the shorter wavelength green rays, which are more deflected, can be seen. Of course, blue, blue and violet rays, which have an even shorter wavelength, are refracted much more strongly, but it is almost impossible to see them: they are very strongly scattered and absorbed in the earth's atmosphere.

The main obstacle to observing the green beam- scattering on suspended particles of fog, dust, smoke and other terrestrial air pollution, as well as on atmospheric inhomogeneities. In addition, as already mentioned, the length of the path of sunlight from the point of entry into the Earth's atmosphere to the point of observation must be sufficiently long. All these conditions are most easily fulfilled when observing sunset or sunrise on large water areas. It is almost impossible to see a green beam in the steppe or in a wooded area. Even understanding all the physical causes and the natural origin of the green ray, it is difficult to get rid of a strong emotional impact. Therefore, like sailors and poets, I would like to believe that the appearance of this miracle of nature will serve as a good omen for the country and the people living in it.

Superior mirage and green beam

To observe the green beam, three conditions are necessary: an open horizon (in the steppe, tundra, mountains or at sea in the absence of excitement), fresh air and the cloud-free side of the horizon where the Sun sets or rises.Observation with the naked eye is quite rare. Using a spyglass, a telescope, binoculars, and pointing the device at the point of sunrise in advance, you can see it on almost any day in suitable weather. You can watch no more than a few seconds - dangerous! At sunset, its bright light does not allow the use of optics at all.

The normal duration of the green beam is only a few seconds. You can significantly increase the time of its observation if, when it appears, you quickly run up the embankment or move from one deck of the ship to another at such a speed as to maintain the position of the eye relative to the green beam. During one of the expeditions to the South Pole, an American pilot and explorer Richard Baird observed the green beam for 35 minutes. This happened at the end of the polar night, when the edge of the solar disk first appeared above the horizon and moved along it (when viewed from the pole, the solar disk moves almost horizontally: its ascent rate is very low).

Richard Evelyn Baird

Refraction sun rays in the atmosphere is accompanied by their dispersion, that is, decomposition into a spectrum. In this case, the power of refraction depends on the wavelength of the beam: the shorter the wavelength of the beam, the more it will rise due to atmospheric refraction.

Astronomical refraction (atmospheric refraction) - refraction in the atmosphere of light rays from heavenly bodies. Since the density of planetary atmospheres always decreases with height, the refraction of light occurs in such a way that the curved beam always faces the zenith with its convexity. In this regard, refraction always "raises" the images of celestial bodies above their true position. Another visible consequence of refraction (more precisely, the difference in its values by different heights) - flattening of the visible disk of the Sun or Moon on the horizon.

The actual position of the Sun below the horizon (yellow disk) and its apparent position (orange) during sunrise/set.

As a result of the superposition of color rays from individual points of the solar disk, the central part of it will remain white (or rather, due to scattering, the entire disk becomes red), and only the upper and lower edges of the disk are in a predominant position. The top becomes blue-green, the bottom orange-red. The red and orange parts of the Sun's disk set below the horizon before the green and blue parts.

Atmospheric dispersion of solar rays manifests itself most clearly at the very last moment of sunset, when a small upper segment remains above the horizon, and then only the very “crown” of the solar disk. The last ray of the setting Sun, decomposing into a spectrum, forms a "fan" of colored rays. Divergence of extreme rays visible spectrum — purple and red- averages 38 ", but with stronger refraction it can be much more. When the Sun sinks below the horizon, the last beam we should see is violet. However, the shortest wavelengths - violet, blue, blue - on a long journey in the atmosphere (when the Sun is already at the horizon), they scatter so much that they do not reach the earth's surface. In addition, the human eye is less sensitive to the rays of this part of the spectrum. Therefore, at the last moment of sunset, the last ray of the setting Sun turns out to be a bright emerald color. This phenomenon has received title green beam.

At sunrise, the reverse color change takes place. The first ray of the rising Sun is green; then yellow, orange, and finally red are added to it, together forming the usual daylight Sun.

The phenomenon of the green ray comes in three forms:
. in the form of a green edge of the upper part of the solar disk,
. in the form of a green segment,
. in the form of a green beam, which looks like a green flame escaping from the horizon.

Green beam at sunset on June 30, 2010 over the sea on the island of Helgoland in Germany...

...and 20-35 seconds after the previous shot.

With exceptionally high air transparency, the last beam can be green-blue and even blue. Similar phenomenon observed extremely rarely.

It is also extremely rare to observe a "red beam". The red beam appears at the moment when the lower edge of the solar disk appears under the clearly formed edge of the cloud covering the rest of the disk. At the same time, the height of the Sun above the horizon should be minimal, and the air should be completely transparent. The physics of the phenomenon is similar to the physics of the green beam described above.

Sunset sequence and green flash as the sun slowly slides behind the clouds.

Mock-Mirage sunset "Yellow Segment" 24/05/2001 from Roques de los Muchachos "La Palma" (Canary Island - Spain)

Sunset with Blue and Green Flash. This frame was captured about two seconds before the Blue Flash frame (Mario Cogo) 10/17/2001 from Roques de los Muchachos "La Palma" (Canary Island - Spain)

Impressive and rare sunset with Blue Flash, Green Rim and sunspots. 17/10/2001 from Roques de los Muchachos "La Palma" (Canary Island - Spain) This picture was Astronomy Picture of the Day by NASA (9 January 2002) (Mario Cogo)

Enlargement of the Blue Flash image, where a nice Green Rim is still clearly visible under an elettrical Blue Flash.

The latest pictures clearly demonstrating the blue and red rays are quite rare. Still, the phenomenon is not so easy to see, let alone Good photo to do a whole thing in general, which is interesting - judging by the description, it was shot with a film camera.

Perfect oval sunset with a large sunspot and the mock-mirage Red Flash in the lower part of the solar disk. 05/26/2001 from Roques de los Muchachos "La Palma" (Canary Island - Spain)

End of the sunset sequence with Green Flash.

Astrophotography of Mario Kogo

Phenomenon observation

To observe the green beam, three conditions are necessary: an open horizon (in the steppe, tundra, mountains or at sea in the absence of waves), clean air and a cloud-free side of the horizon where the sunset or sunrise occurs. Observation with the naked eye is rare. Using spyglass , telescope , binoculars, and pointing the device at the point of sunrise in advance, you can see it almost on any day in suitable weather. You can watch no more than a few seconds - dangerous! At sunset, its bright light does not allow the use of optics at all.

The normal duration of the green beam is only a few seconds. You can significantly increase the time of its observation if, when it appears, you quickly run up the embankment or move from one deck of the ship to another at such a speed as to maintain the position of the eye relative to the green beam. During one of the expeditions to South Pole American aviator and explorer Richard Baird observed the green beam for 35 minutes. It happened at the end polar night, when the edge of the solar disk first appeared above the horizon and moved along it (when viewed from the pole, the solar disk moves almost horizontally: its rate of rise is very small).

Physics of the phenomenon

As a result of the superposition of color rays from individual points of the solar disk, the central part of it will remain white (or rather, due to scattering, the entire disk becomes red), and only the upper and lower edges of the disk are in a predominant position. The top becomes blue-green, the bottom becomes orange-red. The red and orange parts of the Sun's disk set below the horizon before the green and blue parts.

atmospheric dispersion solar rays in the most obvious form manifests itself at the very last moment of sunset, when a small upper segment remains above the horizon, and then only the very “top” of the solar disk. The last ray of the setting Sun, decomposing into a spectrum, forms a "fan" of colored rays. The divergence of the extreme rays of the visible spectrum - violet and red - averages 38 ", but with stronger refraction it can be much larger. When the Sun sinks below the horizon, we should see violet with the last beam. However, the shortest wavelengths are violet, blue, blue - on a long journey in the atmosphere (when the Sun is already at the horizon), they scatter so much that they do not reach the earth's surface. In addition, the human eye is less sensitive to the rays of this part of the spectrum. Therefore, at the last moment of sunset, the last ray of the setting Sun turns out to be a bright emerald color.This phenomenon is called green beam .

At sunrise, the reverse color change takes place. The first ray of the rising Sun is green; then yellow, orange, and finally red are added to it, together forming the normal daylight of the Sun.

The phenomenon of the green ray comes in three forms:

in the form of a green edge of the upper part of the solar disk,
as a green segment
in the form of a green beam, which looks like a green flame escaping from the horizon.

blue and red beam

With exceptionally high air transparency, the last beam can be green-blue and even blue. Such a phenomenon is extremely rare.

In culture

Novel Jules Verne Green beam (1882) is dedicated to this natural phenomenon.
Mentioned in the book Leonid Sobolev"Green Ray" about patrol boats of the Black Sea Fleet during the Great Patriotic War
AT the third part of the film "Pirates of the Caribbean" the green beam, according to Mr. Gibbs, appears when soul returns from afterlife to the world of the living.
In the story " Interns » brothers Strugatsky.
French director Eric Romer directed the film The Green Beam (1986).

Notes

Source

S. V. Zvereva. In the world of sunshine. L., Gidrometeoizdat, 1988, 160 pages with ill.

Links

Andrew T. Young An Introduction to Green Flashes. San Diego State University. Department of Astronomy. - one of the most complete English-language sites dedicated to the phenomenon of the green ray. archived
Les Cowley Green Flash (English) . Atmospheric Optics. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
mario cogo Green Flash Gallery. Galaxy Lux. Astrophotography by Mario Cogo. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2012.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

Raid on Baalbek
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See what the "Green Ray" is in other dictionaries:

green beam- a flash of green light at the moment of the disappearance of the solar disk under the horizon (usually sea) or its appearance from behind the horizon. The phenomenon is extremely rare, associated with the refraction of sunlight in the atmosphere. * * * GREEN BEAM GREEN BEAM, flash… … encyclopedic Dictionary

green beam- flash Green colour at the moment of the disappearance of the solar disk behind the horizon (usually sea) or its appearance from the horizon. It is observed in nature extremely rarely, only in very clear air. Lasts a few seconds. The phenomenon is associated with... Marine Biographical Dictionary

green beam- žalio pluoštas statusas T sritis radioelektronika atitikmenys: engl. green beam vok. grünes Bundel, n; Strahl fur Grün, m rus. green beam, m; green beam, m pranc. faisceau vert, m … Radioelectronics terminų žodynas

green beam- a flash of green light over the disk of the Sun at sunset, observed for several seconds at the moment when the upper edge of the solar disk disappears below the horizon. Origin Z. l. due to the refraction of sunlight in the atmosphere. Great Soviet Encyclopedia

GREEN RAY- a flash of green light at the moment of the disappearance of the solar disk under the horizon (usually sea) or its appearance from the horizon. The phenomenon is extremely rare, associated with the refraction of sunlight in the atmosphere ... Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

green beam- A phenomenon observed (usually in the open sea, ocean) at the time of sunset, disappearing over the horizon, in the form of a flash (bunny, ray, spot) of green or, less often, blue color. E. Green ray D. Grüner Strahl, grüner Lichtstrahl … Explanatory UFO dictionary with equivalents in English and German