This time, we answer an interesting question about our physical world—why is the sky blue. Light from the sun incident on the earth’s atmosphere is scattered most strongly in the violet and blue regions of the spectrum. In fact, the sky would appear violet except that our eyes are not very sensitive to violet. The combination of Rayleigh scattering and the sensitivity of our eyes explains the blue of the daytime sky. When the sun is on the horizon, as at sunrise or sunset, the optical path through the atmosphere is much longer than when the sun is directly overhead, so more blue is scattered out of the direct beam.Thus, both the rising and the setting sun appear red These effects are due to Rayleigh scattering of the molecules of the air itself, which have dimensions of the order of a fraction of a nanometer, and not to suspended dust or vapor in the atmosphere. Smoke rising from the end of a lighted cigarette or from around the edges of a pile of burning leaves appears blue because of Rayleigh scattering.