This is a great question that is often asked in Observer classes.  Click here to see why clouds come in colors

When we say things are certain colors, what we see is actually the colors that are reflected off an object, as opposed to being absorbed.

Twenty miles above earth, the sky is not blue, but black. But the earth’s atmosphere, which is largely nitrogen refracts light in a manner that makes it appear a beautiful blue color.

As white light passes through the atmosphere, it hits the molecules in the air (mostly nitrogen), which are just the right size to scatter light from the blue end of the visible spectrum. The other colors of the spectrum are not reflected and  travel to the ground with little interference.

As the blue light is scattered from molecule to molecule in the sky, it eventually appears that  the light comes from every direction.

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