sunbeam
Sign in to saveAlso known as sun ray, sun rays
thumb|Sunbeams in Nevada during a sunset thumb|Daytime sunbeams as seen from the ISS, illustrating their parallel nature A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a beam of sunlight that appears to radiate from the position of the Sun. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains and buildings, these beams of particle-scattered sunlight are essentially parallel shafts separated by darker shadowed volumes. Their apparent convergence in the sky is a visual illusion from linear perspective. The same illusion causes the apparent convergence of parallel lines on a lon
~3 min read
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Crepuscular rays
- Anticrepuscular rays
- Alternative names
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|Sunbeams in Nevada during a sunset thumb|Daytime sunbeams as seen from the ISS, illustrating their parallel nature A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a beam of sunlight that appears to radiate from the position of the Sun. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains and buildings, these beams of particle-scattered sunlight are essentially parallel shafts separated by darker shadowed volumes. Their apparent convergence in the sky is a visual illusion from linear perspective. The same illusion causes the apparent convergence of parallel lines on a long straight road or hallway at a distant vanishing point. The scattering particles that make sunlight visible may be air molecules or particulates.
==Crepuscular rays==