* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia
In this snapshot in La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos I have captured the sunrise from Masnou, on the Maresme coast, at 8 in the morning.
The image shows that magical moment when the newly risen sun filters its rays through the clouds and you can even observe the reflections in the sea.
Crepuscular rays, in atmospheric optics, are rays of sunlight that appear to radiate from a single point in the sky. We see in this photograph how they are projected onto the waters of the Mediterranean.
These rays flow through openings in clouds (especially stratocumulus) or between other objects. They are columns of sunlit air separated by dark regions of cloud shadow.
The name comes from its frequent appearances during twilight hours (sunrise and sunset), when the contrasts between light and darkness are the most obvious. Not in vain does crepuscular come from the Latin word crepusculum, which means "twilight."
