Crepuscular Rays

Crepuscular rays (sometimes called Sun rays, God rays or Jacob’s Ladder) are rays of sunlight that are seen when the sun is partially obscured by cloud.

The rays are caused by sunlight streaming through gaps in the clouds and are separated by darker regions caused by the shadows of the clouds. They are seen most frequently at sunrise and sunset, which is where they got their name (crepuscular: relating to twilight).

While the rays appear to diverge, or fan out, they are in fact parallel. It is your perspective that causes this illusion, just like how a long straight road seems to disappear in the distance, even though the sides of the road are parallel.

Photo taken by Meteorologist Tom Adams from the roof of the MetService Kelburn office in May 2016.