Editing Encyclopedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous (section)

= May 14 =

== Peach-colored sunsets ==

This is a weird one.  I am a huge fan of peach-colored sunsets.  And when I say huge, I mean, my two favorite things in life are San Francisco burritos and peach-colored sunsets. But they are somewhat rare, and even stranger, difficult to capture with photographs.  We had one tonight where I live, and of course, I didn't get a photo.  We maybe get a peach-colored sunset once a month, perhaps more, I don't know, but it's rare. I also noticed that the light doesn't last as long as other kinds of sunsets.  As I was staring at the sunset, the peach seemed to fade immediately, which was odd.  Not only can I not find an answer to this, but it's almost impossible to find a good photo.  Are cameras not able to capture this color for some reason? [[User:Viriditas|Viriditas]] ([[User talk:Viriditas|talk]]) 10:49, 14 May 2025 (UTC)
:I google "peach colored sunset" and several examples turned up. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 11:32, 14 May 2025 (UTC)

: "Peach" as a color can be subjective, and sunset colors tend to transition among yellow/orange/pink, with "peach" being ephemeral. [[Special:Contributions/136.56.165.118|136.56.165.118]] ([[User talk:136.56.165.118|talk]]) 17:50, 14 May 2025 (UTC)
:: P.s.:  You can make your own [https://www.freepik.com/premium-ai-image/photorealistic-image-peachcolored-sunset-serene-beach-captured-with-wideangle_85943077.htm (e.g.)] --18:06, 14 May 2025 (UTC)

:{{Edit conflict}} [[Color perception]] can be extremely subtle and somewhat subjective, and [[Color vision#Physiology of color perception#Theories|is still not fully understood]]. Matching directly perceived colours by indirect means, whether inks printed on paper, pixels on a screen or chemicals in a camera film, is difficult and rarely completely 'accurate' (whatever that would mean).
:It's particularly difficult to reproduce effects created in air by dust, water vapour and sunlight in a completely different medium. During a sunset, certain parameters like the exact angle of the sunlight through the atmosphere relative to the observer, the density, temperature and path length of the air it's passing through, and the presence, degree and nature of any water vapour and dust, will change from moment to moment. (See also [[Sunset#colors]] and [[Atmospheric optics]].)
:A similarly fleeting sunset phenomenon you might like to look for is the [[Green flash]]. As someone with a lifelong (60 years) interest in astronomy and related subjects, I've seen this exactly three times, despite always looking for it when the conditions are right. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} [[Special:Contributions/94.1.170.37|94.1.170.37]] ([[User talk:94.1.170.37|talk]]) 17:55, 14 May 2025 (UTC)
::Come to Hawaii, you'll see the green flash a lot.  All you need is clear skies on the horizon and a bit of added elevation.  None of the images up above depict the peachy sunset I'm talking about.  It's more of a yellowish-greenish-pink, is the best I can describe it.  Apparently, this is not classically peach, so part of the confusion is trying to find the right words.  Looking elsewhere, I see it is known as minted peach or seafoam peach, but I still don't know if that's correct. [[User:Viriditas|Viriditas]] ([[User talk:Viriditas|talk]]) 21:44, 14 May 2025 (UTC)

:What colour is a peach? [[User:HiLo48|HiLo48]] ([[User talk:HiLo48|talk]]) 23:49, 14 May 2025 (UTC)
::Yellow, pink, red, whites, orange, gold, etc.  However, the kind of peachiness I'm seeing has touches of green, and this is apparently unusual.  Most of the so-called peach sunsets are pinkish, and that's not what I'm talking about at all; we get those all the time.  I'm getting the sense that I might be perceiving the world differently than most people. [[User:Viriditas|Viriditas]] ([[User talk:Viriditas|talk]]) 00:25, 15 May 2025 (UTC)

:Here on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia our sunsets are often impacted by [[bushfire]] smoke and dust. The smoke can be from a serious fire nearby, or far away. (Up to several hundred kilometres) Today we have [[controlled burns]] nearby. (about 10 kms away). All these affect sunsets, in diverse ways, also depending on intensity of  the smoke and wind direction. The dust can also be from a local source, or from hundreds of miles away. I could not count the range of colours we see in the sunsets. Some look peachy. [[User:HiLo48|HiLo48]] ([[User talk:HiLo48|talk]]) 00:38, 15 May 2025 (UTC)