Two Incredible Sunsets

On 2nd & 3rd February 2025, two of the most incredible sunsets observed in the past three years took place between 18.25 & 18.17 pm. These appear to have been the result of a combination of unusual direct reflections of brightly colored setting sunlight from thin veils of high cirrus cloud overhead followed by the development of volcanic sunsets with twilight arches and persistent indirect reflections of setting sunlight from the stratosphere which continued for an hour after the sun had disappeared below the horizon. The reflections were so intense that the entire sky was bathed in a bright red glow which illuminated everything below. Photographing the highlights of this surreal event was difficult because the sensor in the camera in sunset mode became so saturated with color that true differences in hue, brightness and contrast were hard to distinguish. Fortunately the waxing crescent Moon, which later became surrounded by a bright cloud halo, provides added interest and assists comparisons to be made between scenes on the two consecutive days in which it appears. To this end each composite image presented in the accompanying montage consists of a pair of similar views captured at about the same time each day. In order for this to be done matching selections had to made from about 500 photographs.

Tripod-mounted Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40 in sunset mode

Compilation of grand montage consisting of six selected pairs of matching photographs taken at about the same time and in the same direction on 2nd and 3rd February.