Mart Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 I've frequently seen what appear to be rays of light passing through gaps in clouds. These always diverge fron the sun's position. But since the sun is so far away it's effectively a point source so what makes the rays not parallel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaAotS Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 sun's light radiates in all directions. It's not really a point source... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xyph Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 Wouldn't the rays spread out more the further away the sun was? It's still pretty far from a point, anyway... Although it could also be partially an illusion because the gaps in the clouds are far away and look smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepuscular_rays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeonBlack Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 Diffraction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 Diffraction No, not diffraction. Skye's link covered it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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