Green Flash

So some of you may have heard of this phenomenon? Under the right conditions, when the sun sets (or rises), just as it disappears over the horizon, there is sometimes seen a green flash of light which lasts a couple of seconds. We are sure we have seen a few of these now and Bequia was a great place to observe it. I have been trying to capture it on camera for a while with not much success, but this time I think I might just have got it. Using our Nikon camera I took a fast sequence of shots as the sun set over the horizon

So why do we get a green flash? Here’s what Wikipedia has to say on the subject …

Green flash occurs because the atmosphere causes the light from the Sun to separate, or refract, into different frequencies. Green flashes are enhanced by mirages, which increase refraction. A green flash is more likely to be seen in stable, clear air, when more of the light from the setting sun reaches the observer without being scattered. One might expect to see a blue flash, since blue light is refracted most of all and the blue component of the sun’s light is therefore the last to disappear below the horizon, but the blue is preferentially scattered out of the line of sight, and the remaining light ends up appearing green.

So there you go, I will keep trying to capture this amazing phenomenon!