eli5: At sundown, why does the sky have a gradient of several colors? Is it 2 colors blending and naturally creating the other ones as a result from mixing?

Question

eli5: At sundown, why does the sky have a gradient of several colors? Is it 2 colors blending and naturally creating the other ones as a result from mixing?

In: 28

Answer 1

There is a different amount of atmosphere that the light travels through. When the sun is above you, that is the shortest amount of atmosphere that light passes through to get to you, at sunset and sunrise the light is passing through a lot more atmosphere, gradually changing it’s appearance