photo #9407840

While flying back from Los Angeles to Denver, US, Wendy Madigosky (Member 55,239) watched this giant spider crawl across the land. The spider’s spindly legs were anticrepuscular rays, bands of light and shadow cast across the sky by a cloud somewhere behind Wendy. Atmospheric haze scattered the sunlight, making the contrast between the bands visible.Anticrepuscular rays can appear when you look in the opposite direction from the Sun. The beams of light and shadow cast right across the sky are as good as parallel, but perspective makes them seem to converge at a point. Here, the shadows suggest that somewhere between Wendy and the Sun was a large Cumulus cloud that had pronounced, turret-like mounds along its top. The shadow of the main cloud formed the bulbous body, while those of its turrets appeared to converge to form its legs, as Wendy’s shady sky spider slowly crawled across the landscape below.