Crepuscular & Anticrepuscular Rays Birdlings Flat, Banks Peninsular, New Zealand South Island.
Imaged by Patrick Williams Jan 17th 2009. ©Patrick Williams, shown with permission.
"We had a spectacular sunset and I turned round to see an almost mirror effect behind me." Patrick's panorama of several images captures at left the view westwards of crepuscular rays spreading outwards from the sun. Scroll to see the view eastwards opposite the sun where rosy bright anticrepuscular rays converge towards the antisolar point. The darker regions are long shadow tubes of unlit air formed by clouds blocking the sunlight. All the shadows and the bright areas (rays) in between them are parallel. Imagine that you are standing on a very long straight highway. It appears to converge to a point in both directions. Shadows across the sky do the same.
|
