There are some mountainous areas where if you start walking down the slope at just the right time during sunset, keeping a mountain edge between yourself and the mountain you can observe this effect continuously for up to 5 minutes or so.
Green Flash
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Re: Green Flash
#12Former National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield and I used to sneak up to the rooftop looking for the Green Flash while building our new business. It was his dream to see it in his lifetime. We never did see the flash, but the peaceful anticipation of going up there each day is perhaps my favorite memory from that startup experience.
Re: Green Flash
#13on a similar note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dogs
I've seen these once -- a couple years ago, it was pretty neat. I'd only read about it and seen it in photos before.
Re: Green Flash
#14Ahh such an evasive phenomenon! I live in Santa Barbara for 6 years now and watch the sunset close to every evening and have yet to witness this occur. I am definitely slowly losing my eyesight trying to see this though.
I lived in Pismo Beach for a year and for one week-long period I think I saw it every day. It's subtle and hard to differentiate from just going blind looking at the Sun.
I have been lucky enough to see the green flash myself recently, having been on the lookout for something like 20 years. It was definitely not subtle. It was a bright green flash, startling and breathtaking, lasting for a couple of seconds. If you have seen it, you know you have seen it.
Re: Green Flash
#15on a similar note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dogs
I've seen moon dogs and moon rings. Very interesting things to learn about. Seems to depend on the atmosphere, how much frozen moisture is in it, etc.
Re: Green Flash
#16It can be much more than just a point or ray. One summer I was on an endurance motorcycle ride over the Los Angeles Mountains, altitude about 3500'. As dawn was about to turn into sunrise the entire sky flashed green. Lasted less than a second. Pretty awesome experience. Terrain in that direction is mostly flat desert once off the mountain.