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What Color Would the Ocean Be on a Planet Orbiting a Red Dwarf Star?

-- Moiz | August 29, 2022

Question:

If a planet with an atmosphere similar to Earth was orbiting a Class-M red dwarf, what color would the planet’s oceans and seas be, assuming the planet has water?

-- Moiz

Answer:

The ocean on Earth gets its blue color due to the fact that it absorbs light from the red part of the electromagnetic spectrum. I believe then that an ocean with the same properties as the ocean on Earth would also appear to be blue on another planet orbiting another star, even a red dwarf star.

-- Jeff Mangum

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