A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
975 entries
green flash
A brief flare of emerald light at the upper rim of the sun in the final second before it sets below a clean horizon. Caused by atmospheric refraction separating the sun’s light by color, with green the last visible wavelength to disappear. Real, rare, and over before you’re sure you saw it.
Etymology
Straightforward descriptive English compound — named for its appearance, a brief flash of green at sunset/sunrise. Documented and named in scientific literature by the late 19th century.