The Green Flash - Neatorama

The "green flash" is not a superhero, but an optical phenomenon more talked about than seen.

The truth is the green flash does exist and its cause is well understood. Just as the setting Sun disappears completely from view, a last glimmer appears startlingly green... The effect is typically visible only from locations with a low, distant horizon, and lasts just a few seconds... the effect is caused by layers of the Earth's atmosphere acting like a prism.

There is a gallery of photos in Wikipedia; the one embedded above comes from the archives of Astronomy Picture of the Day, a wonderful source for photos of both astronomical and atmospheric phenomena.

Link.

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I've wanted to see it for years, but something always goes wrong. The closest I got was a near perfect condition- a clear day by the beach. I kept a close eye on the sun as it vanished below the horizon- and someone walked in front of me at the crucial moment.

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I took a photo of several people seeing the green flash. Did I see it? No - I was looking the other way taking a photo of friends watching the sunset.

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I've seen this 3 times in the UK, from the North Kent coast where the artist JMW Turner studied the skies.

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If you're moving toward the sunset and the color changes from red to green, you're moving very fast...

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I've seen this a few times and it lasts longer when you're moving toward it. Not much longer. :p

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(NH4)2Cr2O7 is Ammonium dichromate which is sometimes called "Vesuvian Fire" as it was commonly used to simulate a volcanic eruption. I remember building ing a plaster of paris volcano model and making it erupt in my 6th grade class (circa 1967--yeah, I'm old)
The other compound is Mercury(II) thiocyanate (Hg(SCN)2) AKA "Pharoah's Serpent" It used to be used in fireworks because of its black-snake effect. However, it isn't readily available anymore because it is toxic.

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So thát's how "Kraken" is properly pronounced ;)

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