Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 March 18

                      Anticrepuscular Rays over Florida
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Bryan Goff

   Explanation: What's happening behind those clouds? Although the scene
   may appear somehow supernatural, nothing more unusual is occurring than
   a Sun setting on the other side of the sky. Pictured here are
   anticrepuscular rays. To understand them, start by picturing common
   crepuscular rays that are seen any time that sunlight pours though
   scattered clouds. Now although sunlight indeed travels along straight
   lines, the projections of these lines onto the spherical sky are great
   circles. Therefore, the crepuscular rays from a setting (or rising) sun
   will appear to re-converge on the other side of the sky. At the
   anti-solar point 180 degrees around from the Sun, they are referred to
   as anticrepuscular rays. Featured here is a particularly striking
   display of anticrepuscular rays photographed in 2016 over Dry Tortugas
   National Park in Florida, USA.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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