
January 15, 2000
The Sun Also Rises

January 15, 2000
The Sun Also Rises
A little universe, just for you
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APOD published January 15, 2000. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Sunrise seen from low Earth orbit can be very dramatic indeed (and the authors don't apologize to Hemingway for using his title!). In this breathtaking view from the space shuttle Endeavor, the Sun is just visible peaking over towering anvil-shaped storm clouds. The silhouetted cloud tops mark the upper boundary of the troposphere, the lowest layer of planet Earth's atmosphere. Sunlight filtering through suspended dust causes this dense layer of air to appear red. In contrast, the blue stripe marks the stratosphere, the tenuous upper atmosphere, which preferentially scatters blue light.