Dennis Schoenfelder of Alamosa, Colorado, captured this unusual photo of anticrepuscular rays on March 15, 2018. Dennis wrote:
I had to take a picture of those clouds and the reflected light coming up from the base of Mount Blanca.
Canon 7D Tamron 16-300.
Yes, there’s reflected sunlight at the base of the mountains, and it appears that ordinary crepuscular rays are emananting from it. But that’s not what’s happening in this photo. Sky optics expert Les Cowley of the website Atmospheric Optics kindly took a look at this photo for us and he said:
These are anticrepuscular rays that converge to a point directly opposite the sun.
This is a highly unusual and beautiful image where we see the rays terminating on the mountains and illuminating them with bright sunlight.
Thank you, Dennis and Les!
Bottom line: Anticrepuscular rays converging on Mt. Blanca in Colorado.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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