From a scientific point of view, the colors of the sky are explained by the physics of light scattering. The atmosphere is full of tiny particles and gases that interact with sunlight. The key is that blue light waves are shorter and scatter more than red light waves. This is why the sky is blue during the day. When the sun sets, the sunlight’s path through the atmosphere is longer, so most of the blue light is scattered away, leaving red and orange hues. Scientists can predict exactly how the sun’s position affects these colors using atmospheric physics.