# Question on the red-orange glow at the Battle of Somme in 1916. Is it nitrous oxide?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-red-orange-glow-at-the-battle-of-somme-in-1916-is-it-nitrous-oxide/997715>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 18, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-red-orange-glow-at-the-battle-of-somme-in-1916-is-it-nitrous-oxide/997715 "2024-02-18T01:45:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-red-orange-glow-at-the-battle-of-somme-in-1916-is-it-nitrous-oxide/997715/1 "2024-02-18T01:45:23Z")

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Is the ‘red-orange’ glow that I’ve occasionally come across in my reading on the Battle of Somme in 1916 nitrous oxide? Was it related to chemical warfare?

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**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-red-orange-glow-at-the-battle-of-somme-in-1916-is-it-nitrous-oxide/997715/2 "2024-02-18T02:12:45Z")

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It’s a colorless gas, so why the re-orange glow?

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**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-red-orange-glow-at-the-battle-of-somme-in-1916-is-it-nitrous-oxide/997715/3 "2024-02-18T02:26:14Z")

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Anyone in australias south east and south can tell you, when there is a bush fire, the sky turns orange.

So its only evidence of soot… carbon etc smoke from fires.

But yes I guess there could be orange NO2 from explosives.  
We saw the orange NO2 in the smoke from the Bierut fertiliser explosion…the nitrates produce NO2 when it decomposes. Well it might make NO as well, but thats clear and colourless.

WW1 artillery propellant , cordite, was a blend of nitro-cellulose and nitro-glycerin, which means plenty of NOx…

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**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-red-orange-glow-at-the-battle-of-somme-in-1916-is-it-nitrous-oxide/997715/4 "2024-02-18T02:32:58Z")

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> [@Isilder](#):
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> Anyone in australias south east and south can tell you, when there is a bush fire, the sky turns orange.

Or California.

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**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-red-orange-glow-at-the-battle-of-somme-in-1916-is-it-nitrous-oxide/997715/5 "2024-02-18T02:56:41Z")

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> [@snfaulkner](#):
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> Or California.

Or almost any place in the US this past year. We had it in New England from the fires in Canada over the summer.

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**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-red-orange-glow-at-the-battle-of-somme-in-1916-is-it-nitrous-oxide/997715/6 "2024-02-18T09:37:03Z")

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Thanks Isilder. NO2.