Scattering of light by dust-free air, with artificial reproduction of the blue sky.—Preliminary note

Abstract

It is now well established that the luminosity and blue colour of the sky on very clear days and at considerable altitudes above the sea-level can almost be accounted for by the scattering of light by the molecules of air, without postulating suspended particles of foreign matter, such as were thought necessary by the earlier writers. This conclusion depends on the measured opacity of the atmosphere, deduced from observations such as those of Abbot and Fowle of the sun’s radiation at various zenith distances. The opacities measured at Mount Wilson for different wave-lengths are found to be nearly in agreement with what would be expected if scattering by the molecules were alone operative; leaving little room for the action of larger particles.