Common folk wisdom says that things look prettier in the morning light than they do in the evening light. In my experience, this seems true. I'm not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, but on the rare occasion when I do happen to be up early in the morning, things really do look prettier.

Why is this? Or more precisely, since I acknowledge the possibility that it's just an illusion, why does this seem to be? I can think of many possibilities:

1. It's actually not folk wisdom; it's just an idea that by chance I have heard and picked up on, but it's not a widespread belief. (Have others heard this bit of folk wisdom?)

2. It's a myth. It's often repeated and people are so inclined to believe it that they are unconsciously selective in perceiving evidence. We notice the mornings when it's pretty and don't notice the mornings when it's not. (If so, then one ought to be able to measure it by taking notes every morning and then examining the data.)

3. It's a psychological effect. The light isn't any different, but something about our brains makes us more inclined to perceive beauty early in the day. (If so, then we should notice the same effect indoors.)

4. It's a physiological effect. The light isn't any different, but something about our optical system makes it perceive things more clearly early in our body's circadian cycle. (If so, would I be more or less affected if I'm not a morning person? Does 10:30 a.m. count as "morning light" to me but not to someone who normally rises at 6:00? What about if I stay up all night and appreciate the dawn before I go to sleep?)

5. It's a real effect, related to the light coming predominantly from the east rather than from the west. (Presumably this would affect different regions differently depending on the local geography. Maybe it has to do with where you are relative to the nearest coast or nearest mountain range. Is this perhaps only a West Coast phenomenon?)

It seems much more probable that light coming from the side is significantly different from light from above, with the result that things look prettier in the morning or evening than they do in mid-day.

6. It's a real effect, related to the atmosphere. In the morning the air is just getting warmed up, whereas in the evening it has been warm all day. This undoubtedly affects the temperature, humidity, etc, of the air through which the light waves are traveling. Maybe that somehow subtly affects how things look.

My tentative guess is that #6 is most likely, but I really have no idea. So many questions nowadays can be looked up "on the Internet", but this one is not so easily googled. Any insights?

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