Anticrepuscular Rays and Rainbow Over Colorado

Provided by: Van Truan
Summary Author and Editor: Jim Foster, Van Truan

The photo above showing anticrepuscular rays and a rainbow fragment is similar to yesterday's Earth Science Picture of the Day. This one was captured in Pueblo County, Colorado on September 23, 2007. Following an evening thundershower, we were greeted by both a swath of color as seen in the lower right and a fan of sunbeams. The near vertical structure of the bow indicates that the Sun was in the act of setting when the photo was taken -- a low hanging Sun translates into high arching rainbows. The lanes of sunlight and darkness result from clouds on or just below the western horizon. Both anticrepuscular rays and rainbows can only be observed opposite the Sun.