We are blessed in West Seattle with so many views, and sunsets can almost be something we take for granted, especially given the number of cloudy days we have. But late January can produce some stunning color displays if the air is cool, and the sky with a few clouds creates a back drop with some texture.

Here's a clever animation from the University of Nebraska -Lincoln of the sun's position at sunset on days throughout the year. While your position on the earth will obviously change how you see this, this is still an interesting illustration of the sun's relative position.

In late December the Winter Solstice marks its furthest point south on the horizon.

http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/coordsmotion/horizon.html

Is this story just a bit of an excuse to share a beautiful sunset photo with you? Yes.

To see and download a larger version of this photo click the link above.