Explain giving reason why the sky appears blue to an observer from the surface of the Earth. What should the appearance of the sky be during the day for an astronaut staying in the international space station orbiting the Earth? State reason to justify your answer.

Open in App

Solution

The scattering of the various components of the sunlight is purely dependent on the wavelength of the light. The light with the smallest wavelength is scattered most. Out of all the colors in white light, the blue has the smallest wavelength and therefore, it is scattered all throughout the sky and makes the sky to appear blue.

The sky appears black to the astronaut because there is no scattering of the light at higher altitudes. The light that reaches the space station do no scatter at all.

Suggest Corrections

Similar questions

Explain giving reason why the sky appears blue to an observer from the surface of the earth? What will the color of the sky be for an astronaut staying in the international space station orbiting the earth? Justify your answer giving reason.

Q. Give reasons for the following:
(i) The sky appears to be blue during day time to a person on earth.
(ii) The sky near the horizon appears to have a reddish hue at the time of sunset and sunrise.
(iii) The sky appears dark instead of blue to an astronaut.
(iv) The stars appear to twinkle.
(v) The planets do not twinkle.

To an astronaut, why does the sky appear dark instead of blue?

Q. Why does the sun appear reddish early in the morning? Will this phenomenon be observed by an astronaut on the Moon? Give reason to justify your answer.

How would the sky appear when seen from the space (or moon) ? Give reason for your answer.

Join BYJU'S Learning Program