What Were Those Columns Of Light Seen This Morning During Sunrise?
DENVER (CBS4) - I must admit that I missed the sunrise this morning but heard a lot about it.
CBS4 Weather Watcher Linda Evans caught some images from her office in downtown Denver and CBS4's Stan Stiffler caught several views from our network of city cams.
The columns of light, which appear to radiate directly from the sun, are called crepuscular rays. The beams always appear as if they're radiating directly from the sun, pointing either up or down through the sky.
Crepuscular rays along the Front Range are most commonly seen during the late afternoon or early evening, typically formed by obstructions such as the mountains or clouds associated with thunderstorms.
In the case of this morning's sunrise the crepuscular rays were somewhat less common because they were caused by the composition of the atmosphere, including water vapor and particulate matter, scattering light from the rising sun.
The next time you see crepuscular rays you might try and find a rare phenomena in the sky called anticrepuscular rays.
All you have to do is turn around and look on the opposite horizon for light rays that will appear to converge at the antisolar point, which is an imaginary point exactly opposite of the Sun.
