OCR Text |
Show SPLENDORJF ALPS Gorgeous Coloring of Peaks at Sunrise and Sunset. Phenomenon Is' Most Complex, Varying Vary-ing Greatly With the Weather, and at Times Exhibiting Fsaturea That Appear Mysterious. London. Everybody who has o-Journed o-Journed among the Alps, or other snowcapped mountains, must have admired ad-mired the e,orjKou coloring of tha pcuka at suurlite and sunset. Watch-tii Watch-tii the splendid spociacle from day to day, that It Is a complex phenomenon, phenome-non, arylng greatly with the weather, and sometimes exhibiting certain peculiarities pe-culiarities that to the uninitiated are decidedly mysterious. In fine weather the following sequence se-quence of events may be noted: When the sun has sunk nearly to the observers ob-servers horizon, the peaks to the eastward east-ward begin to have a red.lUh or golden gold-en hue. This fades gradually, but to a few minutes, when the sun Is a little below the observer's horizon, but tbe peaks are still bathed In direct sun. light, an Intense red glow begins down the slopes am moves upward to the summits. This is Identical with tbe rosy "twilight arch" that In tle;r wialher rises from the eastern bori-son bori-son as the sun sinks below the western; west-ern; and It Is bordered bolow by the blue shadow of the eurth. Now, for a few mimiU's, the peaks are In tha earth shadow; their rocks and snows assume a livid r.ppearance, aptly described de-scribed by the Inhabitants of the vale of Chamounlx, whence the phenomena phenom-ena In question are will seen on t tio summits of Mont Ulaac, as tbe "tints radaverense." Presently occurs the remarkable phenomenon known as "recoloratlon" or "afterglow." In Chamounlx it is called "the resurrection or Mont blanc." The peaks, from which all color had faded, again assume a tv tint; but this tlriifi gradually, and without any sharp line of demarcation between the glow and tbe shadow beneath. be-neath. The recoloratlon Is by no mean a dally occurrence In fact, It Is rather uncommon and It varies greatly In appearance and duration. Sometimes it lasts until an hour after auttset, and It passes away from below be-low upward. Very rarely a faint sec- .T-UP i- ::' J ,YV-V c - v "Resurrection of Mont Blanc." ond recoloratlon may be seen. All these phenomena may be seen, in reverse re-verse order, at sunrise, though they are less common then than at sunrise. The recoloratlon of the Alps bas been variously explained, but there seems to be little doubt that It is due, at least principally, to the reflection from the peaks of tbe rosy glow which forms In the western sky after sunset, known as tbe "purple light," and which Is sometimes Intense enough to constitute a secondary luminous source. Tbe diffuse appearance of the recoloratlon, as compared with the well defined tone of rosy light that rests upon the peaks whit the latter ar still In direct sunlight Is explained by tbe broad expanse of tbe "purple light" as compared with the small disk of the sun. Sometimes the sky Itself (I. e, tbe fine dust in tbe upper atmosphere) at-mosphere) reflects the "purple light," giving rl to a "second purple light' for an observer situated at a suitable angle of vision. This In turn may be reflected by the mountains giving tbe rare phenomenon of a second recoloratlon. recolora-tlon. i |