Crepuscular Rays Over Crasna, Romania
July 12, 2006
Provided and copyright by: Alex Conu, The Romanian Society for Meteor and Astronomy
Summary authors & editors: Alex Conu
The photo above showing well defined crepuscular rays was taken from Crasna, Romania in July of last year.
Crepuscular rays can result when mountain peaks partially obscure the Sun's rays, or as in this case, when towering cumulonimbus clouds, on or just below the horizon, blocked the late evening sunlight. These rays appear to diverge outward from the Sun and are visible only when the lower atmosphere contains enough haze or dust particles so that the sunlight in un-shadowed areas is scattered toward the observer.
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