Boat Trip Overnight with Greenflash Sunset

I was lucky enough to get invited to go along with a friend for a short surf trip. Just the two of us and uncrowded surf conditions. We launched on Sunday in the late morning and arrived at our destination in the Santa Barbara Channel about 11am. When we arrived the tide was still a bit high but the waves were going off. We did not wait long before we were in the water and surfing for about 3 hours. We were feeling so good catching beautiful waves in warm offshore conditions. Then you paddle back over to the boat take your wetsuit off and soak some rays. Eat great food and have a cold one, life doesn't get much better. At the end of the day I decided to take a couple of pictures and by chance I captured the greenflash. I went to catch a few waves and that I did but the bonus was the pictures of a lifetime!

Go to the bottom of the page to see the Greenflash Sunset. The pics on the left had to shrink down and lost the green line.
Go to the bottom to see larger picture.

The green flash is an atmospheric refractive
phenomenon where the top edge of the Sun will
momentarily turn green. It is seen rarely by the naked
eye, primarily because it requires specific conditions
to occur, but also because it requires the observer to
know what to look for. Despite the name, there is no
"flash"; the event only lasts from a fraction of a
second to at the longest, a few seconds.

The basic cause for the green flash is that refraction
bends the light of the Sun. The atmosphere acts like a
weak prism, separating the light into different
colors. Bluer light is bent more strongly than red
light. However, the amount of refraction even at the
horizon is quite small: only a few seconds of arc (one
second of arc is 1/3600th of a degree). This effect is
magnified by the atmosphere itself. Layering in the
atmosphere causes an effect similar to a horizontal
cylindrical lens: the separation of the color bands is
exaggerated in the vertical direction, so that the
separation can be up to several minutes of arc.

What conditions are required to see the green flash?
The green flash is best observed when you have a clear
view of the horizon uncluttered by foreground objects
and pollution free. This usually means you need to see
a distance of several miles "out", almost to the point
where the curvature of the Earth defines the limit.
This is primarily why stories of seeing the green
flash frequently occur at the ocean. This is due to
the additional amount of atmosphere one is looking
through at the horizon when the Sun is setting. In
addition - and equally important - is the fact that
the line of sight is nearly parallel to the horizon.

OK, then, why is it called a "green" flash and not a
"blue" flash? Because contamination in the atmosphere
scatters blue light removing it from the line of
sight. More green light gets through and therefore is
more clearly seen. In extraordinary conditions, a
"blue" flash might be seen.

Actually, all celestial objects experience the same
effect near the horizon; it is possible to see "green
flashes" from the setting Moon, Venus, or bright stars
like Sirius.