The vibrant red sky at sunset in Ho Chi Minh City is a phenomenon of light scattering, and it is not unusual.
Vivid red clouds appeared in the sky of Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of July 30, shared on social media.
Dr. Phan Thanh Hiền from the Department of Space and Applications at Hanoi University of Science and Technology explained: “This is a normal astronomical phenomenon, occurring at sunset when the sun is low. The light will reflect off the clouds, especially during times of rain or when there are many clouds. Combined with the light entering the atmosphere, it will be mostly scattered, leaving only red light, creating the phenomenon of clouds emitting red light.“
Regarding the images of clouds resembling a phoenix, Dr. Hiền noted that it was coincidental that the cloud formations resembled the image that people envisioned as a phoenix, similar to other typical cloud formations.
This phenomenon will last until the sun has completely set or until the clouds disperse. For instance, the “fire phoenix” clouds that appeared in Ho Chi Minh City, as shared by residents, only lasted about 3 minutes before darkness fell because the sun had already set.
