Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt(II) oxide with aluminum(III) oxide (alumina) at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4. Cobalt blue is lighter and less intense than the (iron-cyanide based) pigment Prussian blue. It is extremely stable and historically has been used as a coloring agent in ceramics (especially Chinese porcelain), jewelry, and paint. Transparent glasses are tinted with the silica-based cobalt pigment "smalt".
A sample of a commercial cobalt blue pigment
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Boating on the Seine (La Yole), c. 1879
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model, as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The term blue generally describes colours perceived by humans observing light with a dominant wavelength between approximately 450 and 495 nanometres. Most blues contain a slight mixture of other colours; azure contains some green, while ultramarine contains some violet. The clear daytime sky and the deep sea appear blue because of an optical effect known as Rayleigh scattering. An optical effect called the Tyndall effect explains blue eyes. Distant objects appear more blue because of another optical effect called aerial perspective.
Image: 2010. Донецк. Карнавал на день города 010
Image: Iranian Tiles 1
Image: Cyanerpes cyaneus Diergaarde Blijdorp, Netherlands 8a
Image: NASA Earth America 2002