Crepuscular rays

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Sunlight shining through clouds, giving rise to crepuscular rays

Crepuscular rays are

Crepuscular rays are noticeable when the contrast between light and dark is most obvious. Crepuscular comes from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight".[2] Crepuscular rays usually appear orange because the path through the atmosphere at dawn and dusk passes through up to 40 times as much air as rays from a high Sun at noon. Particles in the air scatter short-wavelength light (blue and green) through Rayleigh scattering
much more strongly than longer-wavelength yellow and red light.

Loosely, the term crepuscular rays is sometimes extended to the general phenomenon of rays of sunlight that appear to converge at a point in the sky, irrespective of time of day.[3][4]

A rare related phenomena are anticrepuscular rays which can appear at the same time (and coloration) as crepuscular rays but in the opposite direction of the setting sun (east rather than west).

Gallery

  • Orbital view of crepuscular rays
    Orbital view of crepuscular rays
  • Sunset at Heron Island, Queensland, Australia (April 2023)
    Sunset at
    Heron Island, Queensland
    , Australia (April 2023)
  • Crepuscular rays before sunset, Tikveš
    Crepuscular rays before sunset,
    Tikveš

See also

  • Earth's shadow – Shadow that Earth itself casts through its atmosphere and into outer space
  • Foreglow
     – Whitish or rosy light during twilight or after sunset

References

  1. .
  2. ^ Edens, Harald. "Crepuscular rays". weatherscapes.com. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  3. ^ "Crepuscular Rays". 16 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Weather Facts: Crepuscular rays | weatheronline.co.uk".

External links