Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day we feature a different image or photograph
of our fascinating universe, along with a brief explanation written by a
November 17, 1995
The Sun Also Rises
Sunrise seen from low Earth
orbit by the shuttle astronauts
can be very dramatic indeed (and the authors apologize to
Hemingway for using his title!).
In this breathtaking view, the Sun is
just visible peaking over towering anvil shaped
storm clouds whose silhouetted tops mark the upper boundary of
the troposphere, the lowest layer of
planet Earth's atmosphere.
Sunlight filtering through suspended dust causes
this dense layer of air to appear red.
In contrast, the blue stripe marks the stratosphere, the tenuous
upper atmosphere, which preferentially scatters blue light.
Tomorrow's picture: Water World
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