Green Flash | FerrariChat
Buy

Green Flash

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by Jdubbya, May 9, 2004.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Jdubbya

    Jdubbya The $10 Trillion Man
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 28, 2003
    42,499
    PNW
    Full Name:
    John
    #1 Jdubbya, May 9, 2004
    I recently witnessed a natural phenomenon that I had never heard of. I also didn't believe it when I did hear about it. I was told that while in a tropical area (I was in Guam) if you watch the sunset and have a clear view of it to the horizon (not even any clouds can obscure your view), you can see a green flash at exactly the moment it falls below the horizon.

    In nearly two months there there were only a few days when the conditions were right, and By-god I saw it. I really thought the guys were pulling my leg, but I saw it with my own eyes.

    I'm trying to do a little research now to find out what cause this. Any ideas??
     
  2. dherman76

    dherman76 Formula Junior
    Owner

    Feb 25, 2004
    601
    Boston
    Full Name:
    Darren Herman
    #2 dherman76, May 9, 2004
    was that a cigarrette you were smoking or?
     
  3. teak360

    teak360 F1 World Champ

    Nov 3, 2003
    10,065
    Boulder, CO
    Full Name:
    Scott
    #3 teak360, May 9, 2004
    They are really rare, but they are real.
     
  4. marco246

    marco246 Formula Junior

    Mar 25, 2004
    288
    Hawaii
    Full Name:
    Mark
    #4 marco246, May 9, 2004
    JW,

    I've seen the phenomenon twice, and the visions had nothing to do with the several aluminum cylinders of amber fluid I had knocked down.

    At sunset the sun's rays have to penetrate the maximum layers of atmosphere (from the viewer's position). Gravity causes the rays to bend and the light spectrum is displayed, like a rainbow. But because of the overwhelming red-orange of the sun, all the colors are subsumed except for green, which you see for less than a second as the sun disappears, under perfect atmospheric conditions.

    One-upmanship: I saw a moon-rainbow a few months ago. The "colors" were shades of gray. Hawaii's a good place to see these oddities.

    Cheers, Mark
     
  5. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jul 20, 2003
    52,342
    SFPD
    Full Name:
    Dirty Harry
    #5 wax, May 10, 2004
  6. Tyler

    Tyler F1 Rookie

    Dec 19, 2001
    4,274
    dusty old farm town
    Full Name:
    Tyler
    #6 Tyler, May 10, 2004
    Congrats on seeing one! They are rare to see.
     
  7. Jdubbya

    Jdubbya The $10 Trillion Man
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 28, 2003
    42,499
    PNW
    Full Name:
    John
    #7 Jdubbya, May 10, 2004
    It must be pretty rare, most of the locals thought they were being played for fools too. Many of them had never heard of it and they are in a prime location to see it probably several times a month. There MAY have been some drinking involved, but everyone at the bar saw it at the same time so I was convinced (it was also pretty early).

    I have since learned that it can be seen elsewhere, but it seems that warm water and a clear horizon are more conducive to producing the phenomenon. Hence the myth that it only happens in tropical areas.

    Still pretty cool to witness!! I'll be looking for it more now that I know about it.

    By the way Tom, I just found that web site earlier today after posting my thread. Isn't google great??
     
  8. TestShoot

    TestShoot F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 1, 2003
    12,266
    Beverly Hills
    #8 TestShoot, May 10, 2004
    i saw the sun become a square once while i was on a boat outside of japan, though i have yet to set foot there, i was told it happenes every few decades.
     
  9. kevfla

    kevfla Formula 3

    Nov 20, 2003
    2,086
    Full Name:
    gone 4 good
    #9 kevfla, May 10, 2004
    It's kind of like the answer of how to take a great photo...f 8 and be there!

    Seriously, saw it just once from Clearwater Beach, Florida, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. It was a camera strobe-like flash of emerald green. Atmospheric conditions influence it as I've seen many a sunset over the gulf before and after the one time I saw it. Maybe a perfect, cloudless day?

    KevFla
     
  10. Glassman

    Glassman F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 23, 2002
    15,207
    Montana, Oregon, Hawaii
    #10 Glassman, May 10, 2004
    Two years ago, San Diego at Crystal Pier. As a coincidence, a block further down the boardwalk is a bar called the Green Flash.
     

Share This Page