The phenomenon of the red sky often occurs due to natural events. Even though several regions of the world have experienced it, the red sky event will still attract the attention of local residents, and often cause panic.
The appearance of the red sky is often associated with the end of time or the apocalypse. In fact, this event can be explained scientifically. Here are some sightings of the red sky in various countries that were horrendous.
Red Sky in Jambi
In the midst of the forest and land fires (Karhutla) in September 2019, the sky in Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi, looked red. The National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (now BRIN), explained that the phenomenon was caused by thick smoke.
"That's because of the thick smoke. Sunlight can't completely penetrate the smoke. My guess is that only long waves (yellow and red) can penetrate it, then scatter by smoke particles. So the sky looks yellowish red," said Professor Thomas Djamaluddin who at that time served as Head of LAPAN.
Djamal said this phenomenon is also called Mie scattering or Mie scattering, which is the scattering of light by particles whose size is the same as the wavelength of the light.
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For those of you who are confused about why the name Mie scattering, this is taken from the name of the inventor of the theory that explains the light scattering theory, namely Gustav Adolf Feodor Wilhelm Ludwig Mie.
Red Sky in Australia
Similar to what happened to Indonesia, in early 2020 Australia was facing the worst forest fire disaster. The fires have engulfed the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
Because of the severity of the forest fires, the Australian sky turned blood red which was so terrible. At night, the very thick smoke reflects the red color of the fire that burns the bushes and trees.
Red Sky in China
In May this year, the sky in China's Zhejiang Province became fiery red, like a scene of destruction in a science fiction film. The local meteorological bureau of Zhoushan, a city in East China's Zhejiang Province, announced on Sunday (8/5) local time, that the fiery red sky that appears in this area is caused by the refraction and scattering of light.
"Blood Rain" in England
What happened in England was not a red sky, but "blood rain". Britain and a number of countries in Europe were hit by this phenomenon in May 2022. As the name implies, the rain is red.
The cause is dust that comes from the Sahara desert and is carried by the wind. Satellite imagery from the European Space Agency (ESA) shows a dust wave from the Sahara towards the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean.
Well, the dust is also predicted to reach British soil. "Maybe it will mix with the rain, so there may be some residual dust on the vehicle for example after it rains," said weather scientist Mark Parrington.
Previously, the dust from the Sahara desert had already reddened parts of Europe. One of the consequences is that parts of the house such as windows and local residents' vehicles are dirty because they are covered with red dust.
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Scientists from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) state that over time, more and more dust is carried by winds from the Sahara to parts of Europe and the Mediterranean. Some time ago, the dust caused the sky in several cities in Spain including Madrid to turn red.
The Australian Sky is Pink
A mysterious pink glow lit up the sky over the Australian city of Mildura on Wednesday (20/7) last week, leaving residents wondering if they witnessed an alien invasion, the misplaced northern lights or some kind of solar flare.
Unlike the red skies in Australia in 2019, the pink light that appears this time appears to be emanating from a medical marijuana facility on the outskirts of Mildura. The pink glow in the sky accidentally revealed the previously secret location of this facility.
At the time of the incident, the facility was testing LED lights so that they bounced off the overcast night sky and created supernatural sights that both terrified and entertained the city of 56,000 residents.
When the facility's security guard investigated the source of the pink light, he realized that its appearance was attracting attention in the vicinity of Mildura, which is about 340 miles northwest of Melbourne.
They usually use light-absorbing curtains to hide the red-spectrum LED lights that are used to promote the growth of the cannabis plant.
But on the day of the incident, the curtains were left open for a while, sending a signal that was visible for miles around the facility located in the southeastern state of Victoria.
Most likely the source of this light scattering comes from the ship's lights in the harbor. Zhoushan Bureau of Meteorology staff explained that the foggy and cloudy weather in Zhoushan on Saturday (7/5) and drizzle during the red sky may be caused by light reflection from low-level clouds.
"When the weather conditions are good, more water in the atmosphere forms aerosols that refract and scatter the light of fishing vessels and make the red sky visible to the public," said the meteorological bureau staff.