According to color psychology, the orange-gold light of sunrise or sunset can inspire happiness, energy, and warmth. Pink is another color, associated with sunrise in particular, that can trigger joy, creativity, and even euphoria. Shades of red are associated with intensity, warmth, and power.
More atmosphere means more molecules to scatter the violet and blue light away from your eyes. If the path is long enough, all of the blue and violet light scatters out of your line of sight. The other colors continue on their way to your eyes. This is why sunsets are often yellow, orange, and red.”
There are some things in life that can't be solved— and when we apply this mode of mind, we are left frustrated and depleted. This is where “sunset” mode of mind becomes critically important. While problem solving mind keeps us in constant action— sunset mind reminds us to slow down and to notice.
Blue is scattered more than other colours because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. However, at sunset, light has further to travel through the atmosphere. The shorter wavelength blue light is scattered further, as the sunlight passes over a greater distance, and we see the longer wavelength yellow and red light.
There is no doubting that sunsets evoke positive emotions. Sunsets drive romantic feelings in people. They create magical moments and can amplify the love people have for each other.
A person who loves to see the sunset is called an opacarophile.
Watching the sunset can be a great stress reliever. Research suggests that exposure to nature, especially natural light, can reduce stress and anxiety levels. Watching the sun set slowly behind the horizon can help you slow down, relax, and enjoy the beauty of nature, which can help reduce your stress levels.
But when you limit yourself to “natural” sunset colors, violet and/or indigo are the most uncommon. The reason for this is the way our atmosphere refracts and scatters light.
Research shows watching the sun pass over the horizon stimulates the pineal gland as the direct sunlight hits the eye, moves through retinal-hypothalamic tract and then hits the brain. This boosts the secretion of melatonin and serotonin, our “feel-good” hormones.
Because though the sun emits strongest in the green part of the spectrum, it also emits strongly in all the visible colors – red through blue (400nm to 600nm).
Beyond just being a natural phenomenon, the setting of the sun symbolizes many things to a variety or people and cultures. The setting of the sun represents the completion of a day's work, so it represents the opportunity to rest.
Sunset shows that life is too beautiful to hold on to the past, so move on to the present. The sky takes on shades of orange during sunrise and sunset - the color that gives you hope that the sun will set only to rise again. Sunrise is the start of something beautiful: the day.
The blue hour occurs when the Sun is far enough below the horizon so that the sunlight's blue wavelengths dominate due to the Chappuis absorption caused by ozone.
Volcanic ash rarely reaches this height but when it does it, it creates an unusual sunset color. The purple-ish hue is produced when fine volcanic aerosols reach the stratosphere and scatter blue light, which when mixed with ordinary sunset red, produces a violet tone.
This 6 colors palette has been categorised in Indigo, Magenta, Orange, Purple, Red, Violet and Yellow color categories.
With more of the direct white light from the sun obscured by atmosphere, diffuse light from the rest of the sky starts to dominate, blurring shadows and softening edges. Strong red light from the side of the sun and the broad blue from above add together to give a warm orange glow.
Science Behind the Calming Effects of Sunsets
The colours in the sky, the warm light, and the transition from day to night all play a role in the calming effect of sunsets. For many, the beauty and peacefulness of a sunset can be a form of therapy, providing the perfect opportunity for reflection and relaxation.
Blue is one of the rarest of colors in nature. Even the few animals and plants that appear blue don't actually contain the color. These vibrant blue organisms have developed some unique features that use the physics of light.
An afterglow in meteorology consists of several atmospheric optical phenomena, with a general definition as a broad arch of whitish or pinkish sunlight in the twilight sky, consisting of the bright segment and the purple light.
The color blue that is found in foods, plants, and animals lacks a chemical compound that makes them blue, which makes the natural blue pigment so rare.
Psychology reasearch has shown that being physically exposed to sunsets yields in a long-lasting satisfaction and stress relief. It is a form of meditation allowing you to clear your mind of all that is going on in your body and mind.
The sky may turn yellow at sunset, due to a high presence of dust in the environment or because of a brewing storm. A coming storm is one of the most common causes of a yellow sky, and a yellow-ish, orange hue might indicate a winter storm brewing on a relatively warm day.
As incoming sunlight passes through a more dense atmosphere, shorter wavelengths of light (violet and blue) are efficiently scattered away by particles suspended in the atmosphere. This allows predominantly yellow and red wavelengths of light to reach the observer's eyes, producing a yellowish-red sunset.