๐ŸŒž Why Is The Sky Blue? โ€” Rayleigh Scattering Lab

Air molecules scatter sunlight in every direction โ€” and short wavelengths scatter about 4ร— more than long ones. Slide the Sun down and watch the same physics hand the sky back as a sunset.

๐Ÿ“– The physics & fun comparisons

Rayleigh scattering is strongest for wavelengths much smaller than the scatterer, scaling as 1/ฮปโด: blue light at 450 nm is scattered โ‰ˆ4.4ร— more strongly than deep red at 650 nm. Look anywhere but at the Sun and you see that scattered light โ€” blue-rich. (The sky isn't violet because the Sun emits less violet and our eyes are barely sensitive to it.) Near the horizon the light has crossed more air and re-scattered, washing the blue toward white.

At sunset the beam crosses up to ~38ร— more atmosphere: the blues are scattered away long before the light reaches you, so the direct beam arrives red-orange and paints the clouds. Clouds are white because their droplets are much larger than any wavelength (Mie scattering โ€” all colours equally). On Mars the thin dusty air does the opposite: butterscotch sky by day, blue glow around the setting Sun. And on the Moon, with no atmosphere at all, the "sky" is black even at noon.