English

Etymology

Alpenglow is a calque of Alpenglühen, from Alpen, "Alps" + glühen, "to glow."

Pronunciation

Noun

1. A rosy or reddish glow seen near sunset or sunrise on the summits of mountains, especially snow covered mountains.

Translations

• German: Alpenglühen

Alpenglow (from German: Alpenglühen) is an optical phenomenon. When the Sun sets, a horizontal red glowing band can sometimes be observed to the east. In mountainous areas, such as the Alps, this can be caused by snow, moisture, or ice on mountain sides which receive the scattered red light from the setting Sun.

In the absence of mountains, the aerosols in the eastern portion of the sky themselves can still be illuminated in the same way by the remaining red scattered light straddling the border of the Earth's own shadow (the terminator). This back-scattered light produces a red band above the darkness rising in the east.

See also

• Golden hour (photography)