green flash

[evecircleM]

Would someone out there please tell me
what a green flash is. The flash my husband
saw was 6 weeks ago. Please respond. I am in the dark on this one.

[Jeff_H]

Aledgedly, the green flash is that last tiny bit of the sun seen just before the sun dips over horizon into the sea at sunset. It is a light wave shift due to the passing through the atmosphere that is similar to seeing one edge of a rainbow.

Jeff

[SHIMSHON]

Aledgedly?? Great deffinition but I have seen it, twice now, and both times just prior to sun rise and 300-400 miles off shore.Or maybe that was just light passing through a Heineken bottle.

[Jeff_H]

I say aledgely because if I remember college optics from physics (30 odd years ago)the edges of a spectrum would not be green so I have never been 100% completely convinced of the explanation.

Jeff

[JEFryar]

As I remember from college,it was THE excuse to get your date offshore for a cruse at night. Still works...

[VIEXILE]

When there''s no clouds to the north of Puerto Rico, we see "it" infrequently from our deck and when we hang off the drop until sunset fishing. The horizon has to be perfectly clear. I''ve seen the flash on numerous occassions, but I couldn''t swear to the fact that it''s green.

[kwiac]

I''ve seen this phenom down in Key West once. I''d believe Jeffh''s explanation.

Regards

[SailorMitch]

I''ve seen the green flash in Key West, too, on many occasions. Or is that the wedge of lime at the bottom of my margarita? Whatever.

Mitch

[bcameron]

Ocean Navigator did a good article on this a while back... as did Good Old Boat. I''ve only ever seen it once (don''t get to the ocean enough).

[jollymonjeff]

There are some great articles online about the "mechanics" behind the green flash. I have seen them a few times on hazy days and clear ones. Here is a link to a picture of one. I did not take the photo, but rather got it from another site.
http://www.geocities.com/buccaneersailboats2/pictureperfect.html