What geometry causes sunlight rays to travel a significantly longer distance through the atmosphere in the morning?
Answer
Rays strike the planet at a shallow angle.
When the sun is low on the horizon, such as during the early morning hours, the angle at which its rays strike the Earth is oblique or shallow. This shallow angle forces the incoming sunlight to penetrate a much greater thickness of the Earth's atmosphere, which includes layers of air, dust, and moisture. This extended traversal increases the opportunity for light waves to be scattered before reaching the surface, resulting in softer, less direct illumination compared to when the sun is higher in the sky.
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