Yesterday evening Avram and I took a walk across the George Washington Bridge at sunset. The weather was mild, a soft breeze came off the water, and the views were fantastic.
We met a very nice young man from Switzerland (which is quite amusing if you know a little bit about my family) who had forgotten his camera and wanted me to send him my shots (right... I needed more encouragement to stop every 20 feet and annoy the bikers trying to pass me....).
By the time we made the trek over to the New Jersey side, the lights on the bridge began to wink on. I took the above shot upon our return to the New York side and I love how clearly you can see "Martha" (the affectionate name given to the lower level) all lit up.
After the sun sunk below the horizon, the moon rose low in the sky a brilliant orange in a relatively cloudless sky, which I thought quite curious.....
About 20 minutes after we returned home, we heard an unexpected and torrential downpour outside our window. I wonder if the color of the moon was related. Any meteorologists out there?
11 comments:
Nice shot.
Going to take a guess that the orange moon is related to the old saying "Red sky at night, sailors' delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." That red-orange color usually comes about because of a concentration of dust particles and moisture, sort of a warning sign that rain is imminent.
Yes, I know that phrase, but this wasn't the sky... it was the moon which was bright orange against a black sky ...
To my mind poem refers to the skies, though perhaps the same priciples apply.
This effect is caused by the atmosphere of the earth. The reason for the orange color is due to the scattering of light by the atmosphere. When the moon is near the horizon, the moonlight must pass through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead. By the time the moonlight reaches your eyes, the blue, green, and purple pieces of visible light have been scattered away by air molecules. That's why you only see yellow, orange, or red.
The moon can have an orange color at any time of the year. Sometimes the moon appears orange even when it's directly overhead. This occurs when there's a lot of dust, smoke, or pollution in the atmosphere. The size of those particles will determine the type of color you will see.
FCG -
Impressive!
Thanks for the science lesson :)
see what college gets you!
Beautiful shot. I know nothing about the science, but it's evenings like that one that make me think Hashem gets out his water-colors each night and paints us a masterpiece.
There is magic in the air - glad you took that walk!
I love walking the bridge! :)
Great picture of the bridge!
You just gave me an idea of where I can walk to get more steps.
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