Why is the sky darker on top?
When the Sun is high overhead, the sky towards the zenith is a much darker blue, while the sky… This is due to the larger amount of atmosphere, and the larger amount of scattered light, that is visible at low angles on the sky.
Is the sky darker at the top or bottom?
Colors are less intense in the distance, more intense in the objects closer to us. Colors are cooler in the distance and warmer in the foreground. Value contrasts get smaller in the distance. The sky is darker up above our heads and gets lighter moving toward the horizon.
Is the sky lighter at the top?
Even in the middle of the day, the sky directly overhead will appear significantly darker than the sky at the horizon. This is because there is less air above you than beside you, and therefore less air to scatter blue wavelengths of light.
Why is the center of the sky darker?
The daytime sky is blue because light from the nearby Sun hits molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere and scatters off in all directions. At night, when that part of Earth is facing away from the Sun, space looks black because there is no nearby bright source of light, like the Sun, to be scattered.
Why is the sky bluer at the top?
Rayleigh scattering This blue light is scattered in all directions at a high concentration, making the sky appear blue. Further away from the mountaintop, for example, the sky will look like a paler blue, as the light must pass through far more of the atmosphere before reaching your eyes.
Why does the sky appear darker above us when we are high?
So, since directly above you there is a thinner layer of air separating you from the blackness of space: which means that you will se a darker sky. The effect will of course be more pronounced if you are in some high place, such as on the summit of mount Everest!
What is the maximum elevation of the sun above the horizon?
On the summer solistice the maximum elevation of the Sun above the horizon would therefore be 90-21 = 69 degrees. At winter solistice, the sun has a declination of -23.5 meaning that if you were at -23.5 degrees south latitude, the sun would be 90 degrees above the horizon.
What is the altitude of a star at its zenith?
This line points to zenith. A star will rise in the east and set in the west and at any given time it will have some height about the horizon (e.g. ground) which corresponds to the angle between the star and the horizon. When the star is directly overhead at zenith, that angle is 90 degrees. This angle is called altitude.
How high is the Sun at the summer solstice?
So this means that in the summer solstice the Sun has a declination of 23.5 degrees, meaning that if you were at 23.5 degrees the sun would be directly overhead (e.g 90 degrees above the horizon) at noon. Now finally, let’s consider the case of Eugene, which is at a latitude of about 44.5 degrees.