:: COMPARE ::
The short answer
Same parallel beams, viewed toward the opposite horizon, where they appear to converge on the antisolar point. Anticrepuscular rays are in fact the proof of parallelism — beams genuinely radiating from the sun could not also converge 180 degrees away from it.
Side by side
| Aspect | Crepuscular | Anticrepuscular |
|---|---|---|
| Look toward | The sun | Opposite the sun |
| Appear to | Fan out | Converge |
| Actually | Parallel | Parallel |
| Proves | — | The parallelism |
What each one means
Crepuscular rays are shafts of sunlight streaming through gaps in clouds near sunrise or sunset, separated by darker shadowed bands. They appear to fan out from the sun, but they are very nearly parallel — the spreading is perspective, the same effect that makes a straight road seem to converge.
Full definition of Crepuscular Rays →The contrast above sets out how Anticrepuscular differs from Crepuscular Rays on the points that actually matter.