I just saw the Green Flash!!

wollery

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wollery
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Feb 27, 2003
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We were having dinner in the observatory restaurant, before heading up to the telescope for the night and someone suggested, jokingly, that since the Sun was setting we should go and look for the Green Flash. Well we were in no real rush, so we stood and watched the Sun go down, and blow me if we didn't see it! :jaw-dropp
 
Cool! Which observatory are you at? Hope it's clear for you!
 
La Silla in Chile.

It's warm, cloudless, low humidity, low wind, sub-arcsecond seeing. Ideal weather! :cool:
 
Can you describe it? How long did it last? What kind of area did it cover? What did the sky look like just before and just after?
 
Weather conditions as noted above, except not as dark as it is now! :p

It looked pretty much like a normal sunset over an ocean. There was some thin cloud in the valleys between us and the coast, but the ocean, and therefore the horizon, were cloudless. The flash itself occured at the last couple of seconds as the Sun disappeared below the horizon. As more and more of the Sun was passing below the horizon the rest of it was getting redder and redder until it suddenly turned green just before the end.

It was pretty weird really.
 
Well, I too saw a Green Flash a few years ago while on holiday in Carriacou. My friends who ran the guest house where I was staying were rather skeptical- they were natives and claimed they'd never seen this event. One of them suggested that if I drank enough "Jack Iron" I could probably see a green flash most anytime. (Jack Iron is a local rum of about 150 proof). But no Jack Iron and there WAS a green flash...just as described. Been looking since here in New England without luck. Apparently it helps to have a nice flat ocean for it to work. And yes, it is VERY brief....
 
I remember seeing the Green flash when I was in CA. I saw it a few times, but I remember the first time I saw it I was amazed. It was one of the things that sparked my curiosity that led me to meteorology and science altogether.
 
I have a question. Is there a similar phenomenon at sunrise? I tend to doubt it, but can't think of a reason why it wouldn't occur. Living on the east coast of the U.S. I have seen many sunrises over the water, never anything close to a green flash. Any ideas?
 
Thanks Badly Shaved Monkey
(boy, that sentence looks and sounds weird)

But now I have a new website that will take me hours to explore. I know it will take hours, and I know I will not be able to stop myself. Then again, why not, if I have the hours.
 
Does one stare at the sun while it is very near to setting in order to see this?
It sounds like it happens immediately before it drops below the horrizon, correct?
How long does it last? A full second? More or less?

Sounds very cool, I'd like to give it a try when I go to Rarotonga in Feb. :)

eta. okay, sorry. I see these questions are answered in BSM's link. Thanks, BSM.
Just goes to show you should read the links before posting!
 
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A friend saw it once. While he was flying an F4 from San Diego to Hawaii. It lasted a loooong time.
 
*envy*

I read about this as a small child and decided it was one of those things I wanted to experience in my life. Unfortunately at the time I lived in the southwest US (not much in the way of water or ocean around) and is partly what influenced my decision to join the Navy.

I still have hope and after having read the links hope to be able to check this one thing off the list.



Boo
 
Roboramma said:
Does one stare at the sun while it is very near to setting in order to see this?
It sounds like it happens immediately before it drops below the horrizon, correct?
How long does it last? A full second? More or less?
Click to expand...
Yes. The green flash occurs as the last "pixel" of the sun sets. The horizon must be clear; no marine haze. It lasts a fraction of a second -- an ill-timed blink and you miss it.

In the west indies at sunset, it is common for people stop what they are doing to look for the flash.
 
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