Earth Explorer
02-01-1995
Ultraviolet's Two Faces
If you've ever gotten a suntan--or a sunburn--you've had an encounter with ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Ultraviolet is one of many types of radiation to penetrate the earth's atmosphere. In the overall spectrum, or listing of types of radiation, ultraviolet lies right next to visible light. Visible light radiation is the part of the spectrum that makes up all the colors of the rainbow from red to violet; each color has its own wavelength. Ultraviolet radiation also has its own wavelength. The wavelengths are shorter and have more energy than those of visible light. On the other side of visible light is infrared radiation. Infrared has ...