On May 7,
the Sun setting behind a church bell tower was captured in this filtered
and manipulated digital skyscape from Ragusa, Sicily, planet Earth.
In this version of the image the colors look bizarre.
Still, an intriguing optical illusion known as
an afterimage
can help you
experience the same scene with a more natural looking appearance.
To try it,
find the sunspots
of active region
AR4079
grouped near the bottom of the blue solar disk.
Relax and stare at the dark sunspot group
for about 30 seconds, then close your eyes or
shift your gaze to a plain white surface.
In a moment an afterimage of the sunset should faintly appear.
But the afterimage sunset will have this image's complementary colors
and a more normal yellow Sun against a familiar blue sky.