Photographer: Dave Lynch



Summary Author: Dave Lynch

Crepuscular ray and anticrepuscular ray refer to the same phenomena, when viewed toward the low Sun and away from the low Sun, respectively. Dark rays are the shadows of clouds and bright rays are the sunlit atmosphere between shadows. A small amount of dust or haze is necessary to see them. They appear to radiate from the Sun and converge opposite the Sun to the antisolar point. All of the rays are parallel to each other, but perspective makes them appear to converge in the distance as it does with railroad tracks. This picture shows the shadow of a large cumulonimbus cloud that was cast all the way across the sky. The anticrepuscular ray was stunning. Several fainter anticrepuscular rays can be seen below it, each cast from a smaller cloud. Photo taken January 19, 2015.

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