Anticrepuscular rays at Gouda, the Netherlands Bert van Dijk caught these intense antisolar, or anti-crepuscular, rays at Gouda in The Netherlands. �I have been an avid weather photographer for many years, but have never seen these rays so prominent in my country.?I wanted to see the sundown from a polder near Gouda and took a camera with me. Instead of taking most pictures of the setting sun, I turned around to see the rising Earth shadow as well. To my surprise some very nice anticrepuscular rays were visible and getting more intense every minute. These two photos were taken with a 16 mm lens at 24 mm and 16 mm respectively.?During sundown a big area of altocumulus cloud was slowly entering the sky from the Northeast. In the pictures you can see it at the left. A few minutes later the cloud covered the shadow rays and I went home.�? Anticrepuscular rays and shadows are cast through the air by clouds and sometimes mountains on the sky's sunward side. The rays are parallel and recede into the distance. Perspective makes them appear to converge at the point below the horizon directly opposite the sun - the antisolar point. ?

toptics

A

Highlights