Today (yes I know its Apr 1, this is not a joke), I saw that wondrous phenomenom, a "shaft of sunlight". Of course, I didn't have my camera with me to capture it (ain't it always so - I always carry my camera with me except when I'm popping out to the corner shop...) Anyway, it was a couple of hours from sunset (6 PM BST here in southern UK) and there was a layer of broken cloud between me and the sun. Through one of the holes in the clouds there was a very distinct "ray of sunlight", which extended past the cloud into the clear sky beyond. I looked and marvelled for a while, then started wondering... Why does it show up in the clear sky? The "shaft" was distinct, a lighter, greyer colour than the sky. And yet, it was still the same, single light-source (the sun)travelling through the same atmosphere (after it got past the edge of the cloud). What caused the shaft? Anyone here know the answer? I'm baffled... Cheers, Diolma (I have a couple of theories, but they're just that, theories, and I don't want to distract/bias/start people down the wrong thought-line/show myself up as totally brainless, so I'll not state them. Yet.)