Skywatch Friday Post: Sky of Gold

This is what Bandung's sunset looked like yesterday, painted in gold.

We've had glorious sunsets quite a few times this month, and at least twice this week. True, December is the rainy season here, but it doesn't mean that we don't have sunny days at all. It was sunny all day yesterday and was only a bit cloudy in the late afternoon. Perhaps because of this, the sunset was painted in gold.

This is what I know of the clouds and how they might have helped create this glorious illusion of light:

Clouds are formed by a process that's called condensation, a process by which gas and vapor are changed into liquid. Condensation takes place whenever warm air (which, by the way, is normally wetter because it contains more water vapor) meets with cold air. This explains why these clouds were forming - the warm sunny day evaporated a lot of water; the vapor going up then met with the cool air of the high altitude (where Bandung is located) and the cooler air from the surrounding areas.

Now, the clouds, which are virtually "a floating water container", acts like a giant mirror or reflector and prism that reflects the light of the evening sky and distorts it. Hence, the interesting colors of this sunset.

The shillouetted steel and concrete structures in the foreground of the photo, by the way, are what would be (now under construction) the new indoor tennis and badminton stadium of the Indonesia Univesity of Education (UPI).

This post is Bandung Daily Photo's participation in this week's Skywatch Friday meme. Please follow the link to see other participants photos.