Why is the sky blue?
Talk about it together
What colors do you notice in the sky at different times of day?
What about...?
Ask your child's own question
Transcript
Why is the sky blue? Let's look up together!
Sunlight looks white, but it holds many colors. It comes down through the air to our eyes.
The air is full of tiny bits we cannot see. They send blue light bouncing around the sky.
Blue light reaches our eyes from all around. That is why the daytime sky looks blue!
So that's why the sky is blue: tiny bits in the air spread blue light all around us.
For grown-ups: the science
The sky looks blue because tiny bits in the air spread blue sunlight around.
Sunlight contains many visible wavelengths. Gas molecules in Earth's atmosphere scatter shorter wavelengths much more strongly than longer wavelengths, a process called Rayleigh scattering. Human vision sees the scattered light as blue; violet scatters even more but is less abundant in sunlight and our eyes are less sensitive to it.