Thursday, October 2, 2008

Sky Watch No. 12

Continuing with the Skywatch cloud formation lesson... it's over to our very own Storm Chaser Dew Drop

I have chosen a shot with Crepuscular Rays (sun rays, God's rays or fingers of God).

Crepuscular Rays Crepuscular rays, in atmospheric optics, are rays of sunlight that appear to radiate from a single point in the sky. These rays, which stream through gaps in clouds or between other objects, are diverging columns of sunlit air separated by darker cloud-shadowed regions. The name comes from their frequent occurrences during crepuscular hours (those being dawn and dusk), when the contrasts between light and dark are the most obvious. Various airborne compounds scatter the sunlight and make these rays visible, due to diffraction, reflection, and scattering. Crepuscular rays are near-parallel, but appear to diverge because of linear perspective. They often occur when objects such as mountain peaks or clouds partially shadow the sun's rays like a cloud cover. ~source

My daughter once told me that these were a sign of souls of the deceased being lifted up into Heaven.
Lesson prepared and photograph taken by Dewdrop