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Liquid water and ice emit radiation at a higher rate than water vapour (see graph above). Water at the top of the troposphere, particularly in liquid and solid states, cools as it emits net photons to space. Neighboring gas molecules other than water (e.g. nitrogen) are cooled by passing their heat kinetically to the water.
Diagram showing displacement of the Sun's image at sunrise and sunset Comparison of inferior and superior mirages due to differing air refractive indices, n. Atmospheric refraction is the deviation of light or other electromagnetic wave from a straight line as it passes through the atmosphere due to the variation in air density as a function of height. [1]
But as the sun rises in the sky, the arc grows smaller and ceases to be visible when the sun is more than 42° above the horizon. To see more than a semicircular bow, an observer would have to be able to look down on the drops, say from an airplane or a mountaintop. Rainbows are most common during afternoon rain showers in summer. [34]
The frequency drifts from higher to lower values because it depends on the electron density, and the shock propagates outward away from the Sun through lower and lower densities. By using a model for the Sun's atmospheric density, the frequency drift rate can then be used to estimate the speed of the shock wave.
The total amount of energy received at ground level from the Sun at the zenith depends on the distance to the Sun and thus on the time of year. It is about 3.3% higher than average in January and 3.3% lower in July (see below).
The visible spectrum, approximately 380 to 740 nanometers (nm), [1] shows the atmospheric water absorption band and the solar Fraunhofer lines. The blue sky spectrum contains light at all visible wavelengths with a broad maximum around 450–485 nm, the wavelengths of the color blue.
The ionosphere is a layer of partially ionized gases high above the majority of the Earth's atmosphere; these gases are ionized by cosmic rays originating on the sun. When radio waves travel into this zone, which commences about 80 kilometers above the earth, they experience diffraction in a manner similar to the visible light phenomenon described above. [1]
A demonstration of the 589 nm D 2 (left) and 590 nm D 1 (right) emission sodium D lines using a wick with salt water in a flame. The Fraunhofer C, F, G′, and h lines correspond to the alpha, beta, gamma, and delta lines of the Balmer series of emission lines of the hydrogen atom. The Fraunhofer letters are now rarely used for those lines.