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Worldbuilding

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    $\begingroup$ What you mean by "the air away from the sun would appear black" is that, without the effect of Rayleigh scattering, the air would be entirely transparent, allowing us to see the black of space when not looking at the sun. Right? $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Sep 23, 2020 at 22:31
  • $\begingroup$ @JBH yes, that's it. Amending answer $\endgroup$
    – LSerni
    Commented Sep 24, 2020 at 7:16
  • $\begingroup$ I am a little confused about the absence of yellow. The sun appears yellow-ish in the sky due to the blue being scattered out of its mostly-white light, yes? And there are yellow sections in sunsets? Why wouldn't making the atmosphere as thick as it is in the yellow section of sunsets, but at mid morning/afternoon angles instead of sunrise/sunset angles, do the trick? $\endgroup$
    – CAE Jones
    Commented Sep 25, 2020 at 7:45
  • $\begingroup$ @CAEJones the sun's yellowness comes from subtraction. You take away the blue light, that gets scattered all over the sky, and you're left with yellow light from the Sun. If you increase the quantity of atmosphere you get just more of the same - a redder Sun and a darker-blue sky. You are absolutely right in that an area around the Sun will scatter appreciably yellow and red, but that's not all the sky. $\endgroup$
    – LSerni
    Commented Sep 25, 2020 at 10:56