What are twilight rays?


Twilight rays are rays of the sun that appear to emerge from a specific position in the sky. These rays appear when things like heavy clouds, especially stratocumulus clouds and large objects, obscure the sun.

Despite appearing to converge at one point, the apparent convergence is actually an illusion. An example of a similar illusion is the way a long corridor or railway line appears to narrow until the two sides join from a distance.

Another example is seen when a person is looking at parallel furrows in a field. As the distance of the grooves increases, they appear to be converging.

Definition and Meaning

By definition, the word twilight points to something that resembles or is related to the twilight hours. That's where the rays got their name. The word “twilight” actually derives from the word “crepusculum”, which is the Latin for twilight.

Consequently, twilight rays tend to appear during twilight periods. That is, dawn and dusk. At this point they are easily observed because there is a big difference between dark and light.

Colors

The rays usually take on an orange hue mainly because of the time of day they appear. During twilight hours, lightning is forced to travel through much more air compared to other times during the day.

Studies have shown that the amount of air during twilight hours is at least 40 times greater than during midday.

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In addition to the alternative names already mentioned, spokes have several other names depending on perspective. Other names include Buddha's rays, cloud breaking, directional illumination, God's Fingers, God's Eye, Jacob's ladder, and Jesus' rays.

Dispersion and Perception

One of the main components of these rays is the shadow that occurs between the light rays. Any number of objects or things like clouds, windows, trees, mountains and other things form these shadows.

Humans would not be able to see these beams without the particles reflected by the light. A similar event is observed when someone sees a ray of light through many dust particles, which makes the light more noticeable.

The eyes then perceive this light and the brain processes this data to create the illusion.

anti-twilight rays

Also known as anti-sun rays, anti-twilight rays are the opposite of twilight rays. While twilight rays seem to originate from a point in the sky, anti-twilight rays seem to converge at a point far from the sun.

In other words, they give the distinct impression that they are diverging from the sky due to an illusion similar to that of twilight rays. Like twilight rays, anti-twilight rays also appear at dusk or dawn.

However, they are also different in their brightness. Compared to twilight rays, anti-twilight rays are considerably less intense. Although it can be difficult to see anti-twilight rays, they can sometimes be seen together with twilight rays.

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