---
title: "This is What Sunsets on Other Planets Would Look Like"
description: "A planetary scientist from NASA has created stunning simulations of what sunsets would look like on a variety of planets."
date: "2020-06-23"
modified: "2020-06-23"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sunsets-on-other-planets"
categories:
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "sunset"
  - "the digest"
---

# This is What Sunsets on Other Planets Would Look Like

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/sunsets-on-other-planets.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Cosmic Sunset

Geronimo Villanueva, a planetary scientist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland [has created](<https://phys.org/news/2020-06-nasa-simulation-kaleidoscope-sunsets-worlds.html>) stunning simulations of what sunsets would look like on a variety of planets.

https://youtu.be/5DwLODp1cIY

The animation shows what you would see through a super wide fisheye lens pointed at the sky from a planet's surface — so make sure to go full-screen for the full effect.

A second animation, below, shows what the same sunsets would look like from a more conventional perspective.

https://youtu.be/vrLfHv6sze0

## Dusty Evening on Mars

For instance, a sunset on Uranus would appear mostly blue, fading into a greenish turquoise due to the hydrogen, helium, and methane in its atmosphere absorbing the red portion of the visible light spectrum. For similar reasons, Earth's sky appears blue on clear days.

On Mars, on the other hand, sunsets transition from [brown to blue hues](<https://futurism.com/what-makes-mars-sunsets-different-from-earths>), due to dust particles scattering the blue portion of the visible spectrum.

To create the simulations, Villaneuva used on an online tool called the [Planetary Spectrum Generator](<https://psg.gsfc.nasa.gov/>), which is capable of producing the appearance of evening skies on a variety of planets.

**READ MORE:** [NASA simulation shows kaleidoscope of sunsets on other worlds](<https://phys.org/news/2020-06-nasa-simulation-kaleidoscope-sunsets-worlds.html>) \[NASA\]

**More on sunsets:** *[What Makes Mars’ Sunsets Different from Earth’s?](<https://futurism.com/what-makes-mars-sunsets-different-from-earths>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)