Light from above, lava from below

The evening began well. On the way home from work yesterday, a striking series of anti-crepuscular rays shot out below a line of low clouds over Lake Superior. They were bunched as tightly together as a bar code. Crepuscular (kree-PUSS-cue-lurr) … Continue reading →

Anti-crepuscular rays appear to "focus" toward the eastern horizon near sunset last night. Photo: Bob King
The evening began well. On the way home from work yesterday, a striking series of anti-crepuscular rays shot out below a line of low clouds over Lake Superior. They were bunched as tightly together as a bar code. Crepuscular (kree-PUSS-cue-lurr) rays are those sunbeams we often see bursting from behind clouds. They’re rays of sunlight shining through gaps within and between clouds that illuminate dust and other atmospheric particulates. Rays alternate with cloud shadows to create glorious crowns of light around the sun and moon. Occasionally only a crack or two will open up and the ray will look like some heavenly spotlight. The beams are parallel to one another, but because of perspective they often appear to radiate in a circle around their source.
Anti-crepuscular rays are really nothing more than the extension of crepuscular rays all the way ...