Mark Laurin, known as “Astro Mark,” is an adjunct instructor at Keystone Science School.KITION PLANETARIUM & OBSERVATORY (CYPRUS)ĪSTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA OF THE YEAR (Calendar ) “Astro Mark” publishes periodically in the Summit Daily News. Like glories, these anticrepuscular rays are caused by the same backscattering of light and are frequently seen during mountain hikes. The rays will appear triangular, no matter the shape of the mountain, with the peak of the mountain acting as the antisolar vanishing point.Ĭhallenge yourself, your friends and family to find each of these daytime astronomical wonders while you while away the dog days of summer. So go outside, look up, be curious and wonder. These rays appear as parallel shafts of light and are also called antisolar rays because they seem to converge at the point opposite the sun toward a vanishing point - just like a long, straight road appears to converge to the distance horizon. You will see these rays oftentimes just after sunrise or just before sunset. Be aware the cloud structure can influence whether the sunlight can be seen as beams. When you find the arc, look to discriminate the variation in colors with violet on top and red at the bottom. Unlike rainbows, circumzenithal arc colors are purer with crisp definition because there is less overlap in their formation. To see the arc, you’ll want to look straight up to the point in the sky that is directly overhead. This point is called the zenith. The curved edge of the arc will be extending down toward the sun.
This phenomenon is said to be “a smile in the sky” with an observer’s first impression being that of an upside-down rainbow. Similar to sundogs, the arc is formed by the same plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals acting as prisms and also when the sun is low near the horizon. When you see a sundog, it’s a safe bet there is a circumzenithal arc overhead. Glories are frequently seen by airplane passengers looking down at the airplane’s shadow below them. Here in Summit County, glories are most often seen standing at or near a mountain’s summit and on hillsides. Look for one during your next hike. Glories are always opposite the sun (antisolar) and below the horizon, expect at sunrise and sunset. For glories to happen, the sun must be directly behind the observer and might appear as a shadow around the head of the individual, a halo. Glories are formed when sunlight is scattered back to the observer (backscattering) because small water droplets, mist or clouds in the atmosphere are acting similar to a prism resulting in an optical phenomenon of concentric colored circles. (Think of a saint’s halo.) As the moon reflects sunlight back to Earth, it appears brighter against the scattered blue light background of the sky. This is why you can see the planets of Venus and Jupiter and even exceptionally bright stars during day.
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Yet when the conditions are just right, you might be able to see a full moon very close to the horizon and directly opposite the sun during daylight. For the rest of the month, the best time to see a daytime moon is when it is at a 90-degree angle with the sun, and the moon is in its first or last quarter phase.Īnother factor that makes the moon visible during the day is its brightness.
How many of you were unaware the full moon can be seen in the daytime sky? In general, the moon is always below the horizon while the sun is above the horizon on the date of a full moon.
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