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After slogging through the first work day following a week of Chinese New Year celebrations, people across Singapore were treated to the sight of both a rainbow and sunset.

Rainbow

Facebook groups like CloudSpotting & SkySpotting Singapore were inundated with photos of sunsets of a variety of hues, taken on Feb. 7.

Some were even lucky enough to snap a shot of a partial rainbow against the backdrop of pastel shades.

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A post shared by 𝕄/𝕊/𝕀 𝕒𝕜𝕒 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕧 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕠𝕠𝕟 (@soonstergram)

Sunset

Others were greeted with the magnificent sight of a fiery sunset.

Why are there so many colours?

The different colours in a sunset are a result of a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering – the scattering of light from the sun as it travels through the Earth’s atmosphere.

Sunlight, or visible light, comprises all of the rainbow's seven colours, and different colours of light rays have varying wavelengths.

Lights of shorter wavelengths, such as violet, blue and green, are more likely to get scattered away and bounce off our sight.

Conversely, those with longer wavelengths, such as red and orange, are less likely to get scattered and will travel through air to reach our eyes.

When the sun is setting, light passes through a longer distance and therefore red and orange rays are the ones that we predominantly see at this time of the day.

As warm and humid weather is expected to continue in Singapore, you can expect to see more of such majestic spectacles.

Besides the level of the air's humidity, another factor that affect the colours of a sunset or sunrise is the quality of the air.

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Top photo from soonstergram / IG and Pauline Sim / FB