Rays of light beamed east across the Biloxi sky at sunset. Was it an optical illusion?
Your eyes weren’t playing tricks on you Sunday night.
Rays of what appeared to be blue light shot across the South Mississippi sky toward the end of sunset. People could see it from the Kiln to Ocean Springs, but it was most prevalent on the beach near the Gulfport-Biloxi line.
The sight was beautiful, but felt like part of a magic trick. The rays, beaming to the east, seemed to be going the opposite way of the sun that was setting in the west.
Can that really happen?
The answer is yes, and the illusion can be explained by science.
What South Mississippi saw Sunday were anticrepuscular rays.
Also known as antisolar rays, they converge in the opposite direction of the sun or sunset point, according to KTVH news in Montana.
“Anticrepuscular rays are a meteorological optical phenomenon. They are essentially parallel, but appear to converge toward the vanishing point due to a visual illusion from a linear perspective,” KTVH said.
Anticrepuscular rays only make it appear that the sun is setting to the east, KXAN-TV in Austin, Texas reported.
The phenomenon is rare, so make sure to take out your phone and capture the moment the next time you see the rays in South Mississippi.
There’s more good news when it comes to weather this week: a cold front is expected to bring drier air and lower temperatures to the Coast until Thursday.
This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 10:36 AM.
