《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Hualien doctor captures ‘green flash’

/ Staff writer, with CNA

A doctor in Hualien has photographed the green flash （綠閃） that sometimes occurs right after sunset or right before sunrise, becoming the first person in Taiwan to capture the rare optical phenomenon.

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Chen Chi-hsiung （陳志雄）, a doctor at the Mennonite Christian Hospital in Hualien, said the green flash — a green spot visible above the upper rim of the disk of the sun — usually lasts for no more than a second or two, making it extremely difficult to photograph.

One has to have the timing and distance calculated perfectly to get a picture, Chen said on Thursday.

Since May last year, Chen has gone every morning to the roof of the hospital building, which is near the sea, to try to capture the elusive flash.

He had originally thought that it would be difficult during the seasonal northeasterly winds, but due to two consecutive periods of good weather early this month, he was able to capture the sunrise green flash.

“It was very hard to get the right timing over the past year, because Taiwan is located in a subtropical region, and most of the time it is foggy over the Pacific Ocean. I would often go to the top of the building and immediately come down again after just taking a look,” Chen said.

An astronomy fan since childhood, he started astrophotography four years ago.

He said that people usually think photographing a green flash is only possible under a clear sky with no clouds, but said the picture he has taken disproves the theory.

Photographing a sunrise green flash is considered to be even more difficult to capture than a sunset green flash, and his picture was particularly appreciated because of this.

His photograph appears on the Web site www.atoptics.co.uk/fza49.htm.

Green flashes occur because the atmosphere causes the light from the sun to separate into different colors.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES