Editing Green flash (section)

{{about|the optical phenomenon}}
{{Redirect|Green ray|the Jules Verne novel|The Green Ray|the 1986 film|The Green Ray (film)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{short description|Meteorological optical phenomenon}}
[[File:Development of Green Flash.jpg|thumb|The development of a green flash at sunset in San Francisco]]
[[File:Big green flash.JPG|thumb|A green flash in [[Santa Cruz, California]]]]
[[File:Inferior Mirage green flash.jpg|thumb|The stages of a green flash]]
[[File:GreenFlash.jpg|thumb|A mock-mirage green flash observed in San Francisco, California]]

The '''green flash''' and '''green ray''' are [[atmospheric optics|meteorological]] [[optical phenomena]] that sometimes occur transiently around the moment of [[sunset]] or [[sunrise]]. When the conditions are right, a distinct green spot is briefly visible above the [[Sun]]'s upper [[wikt:limb#Etymology 2|limb]]; the green appearance usually lasts for no more than two seconds. Rarely, the green flash can resemble a green ray shooting up from the sunset or sunrise point.

Green flashes occur because the [[Earth's atmosphere]] can cause the light from the Sun to [[dispersion (optics)|separate]], via wavelength varying [[refraction]], into different colors. Green flashes are a group of similar phenomena that stem from slightly different causes, and therefore, some types of green flashes are more common than others.<ref name="young"/>