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Credit & Copyright: Kee Hinckley
Explanation:
What could cause a ray of dark?
Such a ray was
caught in spectacular fashion above the
Florida Everglades
two years ago.
The cause is something surprisingly familiar: a
shadow.
The gold-tinged cloud near the horizon
blocks sunlight from
reflecting off air behind the cloud,
making that column of air appear
unusually dark.
Cloud shadows can be thought of the
inverse of the more commonly highlighted
crepuscular rays, where
sunlight pours though cloud holes.
Another seemingly opposite phenomenon, a
sun pillar, involves small
ice crystals floating high in the atmosphere.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: clouds - shadow - sunset - Sun Pillar
Publications with words: clouds - shadow - sunset - Sun Pillar
See also:
- Nacreous Clouds over Sweden
- APOD: 2024 November 19 Á Undulatus Clouds over Las Campanas Observatory
- APOD: 2024 July 7 Á Iridescent Clouds over Sweden
- APOD: 2024 April 23 Á Contrail Shadow X
- APOD: 2024 February 11 Á Rocket Plume Shadow Points to the Moon
- APOD: 2024 January 22 Á Shadows of Mountain and Moon
- APOD: 2023 August 20 Á A Roll Cloud Over Wisconsin