Abstract
GIVEN a background of fine stratus, blue-black shadows are often thrown upon it, particularly by the setting sun from mountain peaks or the summits of masses of cumulus. On this coast such shadows attain a great length; there may be four or five raylike shadows diverging from the sunset glow to the zenith, becoming broader as they rise. This seems quite simple, the shadows being cast by the reflected light of the glowing clouds in the west, not by the sun itself, of course; but what to me needs explanation is the reappearance of the rays in the east. Opposite the sunset is a broad band of lilac-pink extending for 30° or so towards the zenith, and upon this the dark bands reappear, converging and narrowing upon a point opposite the sunset. In some cases one can almost trace the shadow bands the whole way from the west over the zenith to their eastern focus. The appearance is very striking, but I have seen no description of it.
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CROSSLAND, C. Clouds and Shadows. Nature 89, 322 (1912). https://doi.org/10.1038/089322c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/089322c0
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