Half Lit Sky

June 15, 2014

Halflitsky

Photographer: Randell Teodoro
Summary AuthorsRandell Teodoro; Jim Foster

The edge of darkness is quickly approaching on the above photo taken from the Manila Observatory in Quezon City, Philippines. Half of the sky is in light and the other half in shadow -- the huge crepuscular ray (shadowed band) produced by the stratocumulus cloud formation near the horizon. The width of crepuscular rays, and how far they stretch across the sky, depends largely upon the Sun/cloud geometry, including the scattering angle to the Sun. Note the much smaller, finer rays (lower center) adjacent to the wedge-shaped shadow. Photo taken on May 5, 2014.

Photo details: Canon PowerShot S95 camera; f/4; 1/640 sec. exposure; ISO 80.