The night sky isn't truly black anymore primarily due to increasing light pollution, where artificial lights from cities scatter in the atmosphere, creating a glow that washes out faint stars. Other natural factors like moonlight, the Milky Way, airglow, and even zodiacal light (sunlight scattered by dust) also contribute to its non-black appearance, but human-caused light is the dominant factor making it brighter and less dark than in the past, especially for stargazing.
Similarly, on most nights, some of the light from the moon and stars is diffusely reflected by atmospheric particles, somewhat brightening the background, so the stars and moon appear against a dark gray, not black, background.
When the sun is below the horizon its light doesn't reach you directly because the earth is in the way. But some of the light passing through the atmosphere above you gets scattered back to you, so it's not completely dark.
Blue light from the sun is scattered by the air during the day, drowning out the stars and making the sky blue. The night sky is black because there is no sunlight to scatter.
As the sunlight has passed through all this air, the air molecules have scattered and rescattered the blue light many times in many directions. Also, the surface of Earth has reflected and scattered the light. All this scattering mixes the colors together again so we see more white and less blue.
Dark, Green Sky
If you spot dark clouds on the horizon or a green-tinted sky, take it as a signal that a tornado could be coming and that you should be aware and cautious. The green sky effect is created when a setting sun meets with a thick cloud made of water droplets and ice particles.
But in a cloud, sunlight is scattered by much larger water droplets. These scatter all colours almost equally meaning that the sunlight continues to remain white and so making the clouds appear white against the background of the blue sky.
It shows that pollution is blocking the starlight and sunlight that biological systems on earth have evolved to rely on. This can have a negative effect on human health, increasing our risk of sleep disorders, obesity and depression.
Air pollution and clouds make light pollution brighter
Air pollution and other atmospheric conditions further scatter artificial light making the night sky even brighter and harder to see. The atmosphere includes molecules of gases, such as nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and carbon dioxide.
If the morning skies are of an orange-red glow, it signifies a high-pressure air mass with stable air trapping particles, like dust, which scatters the sun's blue light. This high pressure is moving towards the east, and a low-pressure system moves in from the west.
If a thunderstorm is more than 15 miles away, you might see the lightning but not hear the thunder. Atmospheric Conditions: In certain conditions, sound can be refracted (bent) away from the Earth's surface due to temperature and wind variations. This can further reduce the distance over which thunder can be heard.
Even at night, there's some light in the sky. There's the moon, of course, but also, depending on where you live, illumination can come from city lights, street lamps, car headlights and other artificial sources that create what we call light pollution.
Averaged over the complete solar cycle, there's been minimal long-term change in the Sun's overall brightness since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Records of sunspots show increased solar activity during the first 7 decades of the 20th century, likely tied to the peak of the last 100-year Gleissberg Cycle.
Nitrogen and oxygen make up most of the molecules in our atmosphere, but any gas or aerosol suspended in the air will scatter rays of sunlight into separate wavelengths of light. Consequently, when there are more aerosols in the atmosphere, more sunlight is scattered, resulting in more colorful skies.
“It's totally 100% true – nearly all the elements in the human body were made in a star and many have come through several supernovas.”
🚀 The universe is expanding: Distant light gets redshifted out of the visible spectrum, so some of it is literally invisible. 💀 Stars don't last forever: They're born, they shine, and then they die. No infinite stars = no infinite light.
There is consensus that supermassive black holes exist in the centres of most galaxies. The presence of a black hole can be inferred through its interaction with other matter and with electromagnetic radiation such as visible light.
If you get close enough you can put your hand on a cloud. But it have the same consistency as fog. In fact fog is a cloud that is sitting on the ground.
Nacreous Clouds - from Nacre, Old English 'mother of pearl'
Nacreous clouds are rare and very high clouds, known mainly for the coloured irridescent light they reflect after sunset and before sunrise.
So, if at sunrise and sunset there are more orange or red colors, it is because the blues and purples have spread more through the sky and have not reached us. Finally, if the clouds look red, it is because they reflect the light as it reaches them: for example, white at noon, orange and red in the afternoon.
Jeremiah 23:19
He is talking about a tornado that He has sent—a violent windstorm. The false prophets have said, "No bad is coming" (verse 17). God says, "Do they ever listen to Me? I've said, 'I'm sending a whirlwind, and it's going to fall on the heads of the wicked.
Know the signs of a tornado, including a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud, an approaching cloud of debris, or a loud roar like a freight train. Sign up for your community's warning system. The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and NOAA Weather Radio also provide emergency alerts.