"Why is the Sky Blue?"

By Hayward B., Jude F., and Foster O.
Published May 10, 2024

The sky may seem like a plain topic but it is more interesting than you would think. There are so many cool things that you might not know about the sky above you right now.  

Why is the sky blue?

Have you ever wondered why the sky is blue? According to NASA, the sky is blue because of how the sun's light reaches the earth. When you're looking at the ground you will probably just see white sunlight but it is actually made of all the colors of the rainbow. If you shine sunlight through a special shaped crystal, called a prism,  you can see all the colors of the rainbow. Light travels through the air in waves. When our eyes recognize the color blue we are just seeing shorter, choppier, waves. The blue color we see comes from sunlight hitting Earth's atmosphere - a layer of gasses  that gives us air to breathe and keeps the planet warm enough to live on. When sunlight reaches the Earth's atmosphere it’s scattered everywhere by the gasses in the air. The types of gasses in earth's atmosphere mostly scatter the shorter and choppier waves.                       

Why is the sky a different color at night?

Have you ever wondered why the sky is a different color at night? According to NASA, as the sun gets lower in the sky, its light is passing through more of the atmosphere; this allows more of the yellow and orange light to get into the atmosphere. The yellow and orange light can get through to the atmosphere because it can slip through the gasses that normally only lets blue light through. So, it gets to the sky in a much different color. Since so many of these colors are getting through the atmosphere, it causes different colors like pink, red, and orange. But if the sky is really red, it could be due to dust, pollution, or smoke in the air which makes it so dark. Also the sky is red at sunset because of how long the strain of red light is. Because of how close the sun is to the Earth, it is so easy to see red light. 

What times of the year does the sky change color? 

Have you ever wondered why the sky changes at different times of the year? According to U.C.A.R. At some times of the year, such as in fall, a lot of farmers are pulling up crops which puts more dust particles in the air, which turns the sky an odd color. During this time the sky is very dark due to the particles in the sky and the dark moon. Also, during the fall and winter, the sky is more likely to be richer and darker shades of blue. The sky also changes colors during different times of the year due to sunlight’s interactions with air molecules. During the springtime and summer, the sky will be more light or baby blue. It can also have a sort of creamy or milky appearance, but sometimes the sky can be so light that it actually might look white. This happens because of the humidity outside. During the summer, moisture (based on the heat) fills the sky with billions of small water droplets, which diffuse sun, moon, and starlight.

There are many different reasons the sky is blue or a different color during specific times of the year. You may have thought that this was a plain topic at first but we hope after you read this we hope you ask more of the “simple questions” like, “why is the sun yellow?”  The answer is probably more interesting than you thought.