Green Flash!

Keeping up with the lunar theme of posts, do you guys remember Pirates of the Caribbean? In the movie the Flying Dutchman, a ghost ship would come out in the mortal world when a green flash occurred. Well to be quite fair I have seen quite a few green flashes (took bucket loads of patience & free time) but I have yet to witness the Flying Dutchman yet.

Clifton Beach can be fun if one knows where to look.

Green flashes are optical phenomena that occur shortly after sunset or before sunrise, when a green spot is visible, usually for no more than a second or two, above the sun, or it may resemble a green ray shooting up from the sunset point. Green flashes are a group of phenomena stemming from different causes, and some are more common than others. Green flashes may be observed from any altitude (even from an aircraft). They usually are seen at an unobstructed horizon, such as over the ocean, but are possible over cloud tops and mountain tops as well.

There are many different types of green flash. Some describe a streak or ray of the colour green … like a green flame shooting up from the sunrise or sunset horizon. The most common green flash, which many people describe, is a flash of the colour green seen when the sun is nearly entirely below the horizon. 

You can see green flashes with the eye, when sky conditions are just right, if you are looking toward a very clear and very distant horizon. That’s why those who see green flashes most often see them over a sea horizon. You also must be looking just at sunset, at the last moment before the sun disappears below the horizon. And you have to be careful not to look too soon. Wait until just the thinnest rim of the sun appears above the horizon. If you look too soon, the light of the sunset will dazzle (or damage) your eyes, and you’ll miss that day’s green flash.

Bottom line: The green flash is legendary, and some people have told us they thought it was a myth, like a unicorn or a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. But green flashes are very real. You need a distant and very clear horizon to see them at the last moment before the sun disappears below the horizon at sunset. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another instance zoomed in (hence the grainy nature of the picture)

The green flash from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean.