and the related question is why is the sky blue during the day?
The answer is Rayleigh Scattering. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering
why is the color of the sky orange during sunrise and sunset?
--pls help me on here-- thanks :)
2 answers
Red and orange light is scattered less than other colors by air (and all gases). This is becasue of a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering.
The light that reaches your eye from the sun at sunrise and sunset has to pass through a much longer layer of atmosphere, since it passes through obliquely rather than straight down from above. This results in so much scattering of the other shorter-wavelngth colors that only red and orange light remain from the direction of the sun. The rest of the light is scattered away to the give blue sky its color.
The light that reaches your eye from the sun at sunrise and sunset has to pass through a much longer layer of atmosphere, since it passes through obliquely rather than straight down from above. This results in so much scattering of the other shorter-wavelngth colors that only red and orange light remain from the direction of the sun. The rest of the light is scattered away to the give blue sky its color.