The green ray or green flash occurs shortly after sunset or even at dawn. Just as the sun sets/rises, a green ray shoots up. This is a rare optical phenomenon.
Its explanation lies in refraction of light in the atmosphere and is enhanced by atmospheric layering. It is usually observed from a low altitude where there is an unobstructed view of the horizon, such as on the ocean. Whilst we would expect to see a blue light, the blue is dispersed (this is why the sky is blue) and the green flash is visible from a fraction of a second to a couple of seconds duration.
With slight magnification the effect can be seen on the top limb of the solar disk on most clear-day sunsets. However the flash effect requires a stronger layering of the atmosphere.
However the flash or ray effects require a stronger layering of the atmosphere and a mirage which serves to magnify the green for a fraction of a second to a couple of seconds.
green beam of light that seems to shoot up from a green flash, or is seen immediately after sundown.
The green flash phenomena that are not listed here - such as the cloud-top flash, which is usually seen as the sun sinks into the coastal fog and sometimes also at distant cumulus clouds — are omitted because they are not fully understood.
The GreenRay (Le Rayon vert) is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne published in 1882 and named after the optical phenomenon (see green flash).
The heroes are trying to observe the greenray in Scotland.
Green flashes and greenrays are rare optical phenomena that occur shortly after sunset or before sunrise, when a green spot is visible for a short period of time above the sun, or a greenray shoots up from the sunset point.
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