It's fascinating the way that subtle changes in the atmosphere can affect what we see. When Australia had its awful bushfires at the end of 2019, the skies above New Zealand were coloured in all sorts of remarkable ways.
I agree! The picture at the top of the issue was taken in Alabama as a major hurricane was headed our way (fortunately it went around us, since we were camping). Lots of water vapor in the air made for multiple gorgeous sunsets. And I've always been fascinated by the Krakatoa eruption, ever since reading "The Twenty-one Balloons" by William Pene du Bois as a child. Eerie to think of it changing sunsets around the world with clouds of ash...
Thanks for clarifying that myth! Forest fire smoke in modest amounts can make a good sunset 🌅 but too much stifles everything in my observation and travels.
Agree! I just went hiking on Tuesday when a forest fire spread nearby (I think a prescribed burn perhaps got out of control). It filled the whole valley with smoke, so I was curious about what the sunset would look like, but the smoke dissipated before evening. It may depend on whether you're viewing the sunset from the edge of the smoke or from the very center of the smoky haze.
It's fascinating the way that subtle changes in the atmosphere can affect what we see. When Australia had its awful bushfires at the end of 2019, the skies above New Zealand were coloured in all sorts of remarkable ways.
I agree! The picture at the top of the issue was taken in Alabama as a major hurricane was headed our way (fortunately it went around us, since we were camping). Lots of water vapor in the air made for multiple gorgeous sunsets. And I've always been fascinated by the Krakatoa eruption, ever since reading "The Twenty-one Balloons" by William Pene du Bois as a child. Eerie to think of it changing sunsets around the world with clouds of ash...
Have you read Simon Winchester's book about the Krakatoa eruption? I thought that it was really good, I've read it twice.
No! But it's now on my absurdly long to-read list! Thank you - I had no idea it existed
Thanks for clarifying that myth! Forest fire smoke in modest amounts can make a good sunset 🌅 but too much stifles everything in my observation and travels.
Agree! I just went hiking on Tuesday when a forest fire spread nearby (I think a prescribed burn perhaps got out of control). It filled the whole valley with smoke, so I was curious about what the sunset would look like, but the smoke dissipated before evening. It may depend on whether you're viewing the sunset from the edge of the smoke or from the very center of the smoky haze.