Literally, "twilight rays", alternating lighter and darker bands (rays and shadows) which appear to diverge in fan-like array from the sun’s position at about twilight. The apparent divergence of crepuscular rays is, of course, merely a perspective effect.
Alternating light and dark bands of light that appear to fan out from the sun's position, usually at twilight.
Contrasting, alternating bright and dark rays in the sky. Sunlight is scattered by molecules and particles rendering these bright rays visible. Contrast is enhanced by haze, dust, or mist. These rays are more likely to be seen in the late afternoon, as clouds come between the sun and the observer. A similar effect occurs when the sun shines though a break in a layer of clouds.
the alternating bands of light and dark (rays and shadows) seen at the earth's surface when the sun shines through clouds
Crepuscular rays are shafts of sun rays and shadows that energe from behind puffy cumulus clouds.
(Also called shadow bands.) Literally "twilight rays," these alternating dark and light bands (shadows and light scattered from sunbeams, respectively) seem to diverge fanlike from the sun's position during twilight. This apparent divergence of parallel sunlight is an artifact of linear perspective. Crepuscular rays may appear as 1) shadows cast across the purple light by high, distant cloud tops or 2) shadows next to light scattered from sunbeams by haze in the lower atmosphere. Sunbeams seen during the day are sometimes called crepuscular rays, even though they are observed outside twilight.
Crepuscular rays, in atmospheric optics, also known as sun rays or God's rays, are rays of sunlight that appear to radiate from a single point in the sky. These rays, which stream through gaps in clouds, are parallel columns of sunlit air separated by darker cloud-shadowed regions. The name comes from their frequent occurrences during twilight, when the contrasts between light and dark are the most obvious.
