Watching Natures Cathedral
Watching Natures Cathedral
I call this kind of sunset with divergent crepuscular rays a “Crown Sky”. The rays reminding me of a royal crown but it is also suggestive of a massive cathedral with a starburst at the focal point. I really don’t see too many of these. Considering the nature the particular environmental conditions necessary to create this.
OK here’s how it work. The light from the sun is passing under the lowest cloud bank just on top of the white disk. That light is stopped by the shape of the puffy bottom of the could surface. This creates a shadow on the clouds toward the camera. You are seeing the shadow invade into the parts of the clouds. The lit up parts of the rays are illuminated by the light passing under that lower cloud bank. . So that clouds bumpy surface profile is reflecting off the cloud deck. There of course also has to be some falling ice crystals (hexagonal plates falling oriented like parachutes) to light up to really make it pop like this. So several things have to be happening at just the right time for this to occur.
I’ve seen these rays pointing upward like this capture as well as a down facing divergent crown. I watch a lot of sunset/sunrises and I’d say these occur at a 1 in 500 rate or so. I have a handful of Crown Sky Captures over my travels.
Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana)
Title: Watching Natures Cathedral
Watching Natures Cathedral
Watching Natures Cathedral
I call this kind of sunset with divergent crepuscular rays a “Crown Sky”. The rays reminding me of a royal crown but it is also suggestive of a massive cathedral with a starburst at the focal point. I really don’t see too many of these. Considering the nature the particular environmental conditions necessary to create this.
OK here’s how it work. The light from the sun is passing under the lowest cloud bank just on top of the white disk. That light is stopped by the shape of the puffy bottom of the could surface. This creates a shadow on the clouds toward the camera. You are seeing the shadow invade into the parts of the clouds. The lit up parts of the rays are illuminated by the light passing under that lower cloud bank. . So that clouds bumpy surface profile is reflecting off the cloud deck. There of course also has to be some falling ice crystals (hexagonal plates falling oriented like parachutes) to light up to really make it pop like this. So several things have to be happening at just the right time for this to occur.
I’ve seen these rays pointing upward like this capture as well as a down facing divergent crown. I watch a lot of sunset/sunrises and I’d say these occur at a 1 in 500 rate or so. I have a handful of Crown Sky Captures over my travels.
Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana)
Title: Watching Natures Cathedral