Shadow in the sky?

Ok, I went out to dinner last night and noticed a very very strange view. Many people were pointing to it as it was very noticeable. This is from my cellular phones camera and is not go good because it is an older phone. But, the V shape shadow went the whole length of the sky and got larger. This is taken about 6 pm in Japan and is facing to the South East. The sky was very clear and is away from the sunset. Being a Camera Phone, the colors are not as pronounced either......
Has anyone seen this before?


The phone camera was set to normal

The picture is in panoramic view
The little white dot in the upper right side of the picture, is the moon. So, this can give you a perspective of it.

Here it is in zoom.

[edit on 28-7-2004 by JCMinJapan]

It's the shadow of a mountain over the horizon from you. You get similar effects from clouds....

Originally posted by LordofLard
It's the shadow of a mountain over the horizon from you. You get similar effects from clouds....

There are no mountains though... this is directly from the ocean. This is from Yokohama Japan and the opposite way of the sunset.
Also, no clouds that day. At them smallest point, the colors were very dark.
I have watched tons of sunsets, but this one is very strange.
I am sure just something natural, but strange.

[edit on 28-7-2004 by JCMinJapan]

The clouring in the skylooks like it was taken toward the sunset. Notive that the centre of the yellow bits are...yellow.....!! then become blue along the line of the horizon...

BTW, I should be working & not spending time & ��� looking at ATS

Originally posted by LordofLard
The clouring in the skylooks like it was taken toward the sunset. Notive that the centre of the yellow bits are...yellow.....!! then become blue along the line of the horizon...

Definately taken looking South East.

That is why I am so curious about this. It does not seem to fit anything that I can think of.

[edit on 28-7-2004 by JCMinJapan]

Therefore, NFI. If I get the same effect from clouds here in the sunny UK (we've had no summer here yet), I'll try to post.

What is at its base? Maybe its some sort of gravity beam? Did it move or swirrel?

Originally posted by XL5
What is at its base? Maybe its some sort of gravity beam? Did it move or swirrel?

No, just stayed there. It fanned out like that and got larger through the whole sky. The only thing out there is the pacific ocean.

I've seen this before. I've got a weather book which has similar images. In the book, they are shadows of objects, projected into the sky by a low sun angle. There's a term for it which I forget.

I'd get the book, but I'm off work afor the next week.

Originally posted by LordofLard
It's the shadow of a mountain over the horizon from you. You get similar effects from clouds....

Like this:
koti.mbnet.fi...

That shadows could go through whole sky and in other direction it might look like it would come from that direction. (you see same effect in railroad rails when looking farther)

And that brighter area around it... you can see same kind of effects if there's lot of fog and you're standing in front of bright "spotlight" and look to direction of your shadow.

[edit on 28-7-2004 by E_T]

Originally posted by Zzub
I've seen this before. I've got a weather book which has similar images. In the book, they are shadows of objects, projected into the sky by a low sun angle. There's a term for it which I forget.

I'd get the book, but I'm off work afor the next week.

If possible, it would be great... I was thinking that, but the sun is in the opposite direction..... Could it be casting the light strangely from the other side of the world even though not completely set in Japan? I can understand if that was in the vacinity of the sunset, but the other side is what is throwing me off. I have not seen this, so this is very curious for me. I would have thought maybe a shadow from the moon, depending on its position, but as you see from the middle photo that the moon is well above. I am not discounting (actually, I am sure it is) the Sun reflecting off of something, just want to understand the physics behind it.....

This does not have many rays of light and darkness. This was just a V or Fan style of darkness.



[edit on 28-7-2004 by JCMinJapan]

Now I found english name for those, they're called antisolar rays.

www.weather-photography.com...




And for about that brighter area around it: (or any shadow)




www.weather-photography.com...

www.weather-photography.com...

[edit on 28-7-2004 by E_T]

Thanks, E_T!

That is exactly what I was talking about. The book I mentioned has quite a few images similar to the ones E_T posted. The explanation is the same as I remember it from the book. The shadows with the halos it produces are very impressive too.

I wish I was the type who carried a camera an got the chance to photograph things like this. I once saw a very impressive sun-dog, which is the most fantastic natural thing I've seen in the sky.


[edit on 28-7-2004 by Zzub]

Here's also one other good page about these phenomenos.
www.sundog.clara.co.uk...

Originally posted by Zzub
I once saw a very impressive sun-dog, which is the most fantastic natural thing I've seen in the sky.

Some halos can be pretty amazing, like these in south pole:


Halos can be seen around moon also:
koti.mbnet.fi...

No no, that could be it, but he said this is away from the sunset, east not west. I think he is seeing sunray coming up over the western horizon, bouncing off the upper atmosphere, refracting back down on the eastern horizon and scattering on the ocean surface, creating a sort of dispersed anti-rainbow. Just my .02

Z Out

ZSan... hmmm... good explanation... Any scientific term for this phenomenon? Probably not eh?

Someone call Nancy, it�s Nirubu!

BTW, what is an anti-rainbow?


Are you sure that it is not simply two different clouds that happend to form an interesting shape?

[edit on 28-7-2004 by HowardRoark]

Originally posted by HowardRoark
BTW, what is an anti-rainbow?
Are you sure that it is not simply two different clouds that happend to form an interesting shape?
[edit on 28-7-2004 by HowardRoark]

I would take it that the anti-rainbow was a joke.

No clouds that day as I mentioned. Also the whole V shape kept fanning out over the whole of the sky almost.

[edit on 28-7-2004 by JCMinJapan]

Originally posted by JCMinJapan
No clouds that day as I mentioned. Also the whole V shape kept fanning out over the whole of the sky almost.

[edit on 28-7-2004 by JCMinJapan]

But there are clouds, that is what your picture shows, two clouds with a V shaped gap between them.

I wonder if Thomas Pynchon was in Japan?