Word list · 18 words
Words for the sky
The sky does a surprising number of things that have exact names: the rosy glow on snowy peaks at sunrise or sunset, bright patches of light to one side of the sun, rain that evaporates before it reaches the ground, the faint glow on the dark part of a crescent moon. Many of them can be seen with the naked eye, if you know what to look for.
Each entry gives the plain meaning first and then the science behind it, and keeps the scientific term apart from any older or poetic use of the same word.
Kept on this device only, for the daily recall in My words.
The words
Alpenglow
Alpenglow is the rosy or cherry-red glow on snow-covered mountains at sunrise or sunset.
Science & Nature
Crepuscular Rays
Crepuscular rays are shafts of sunlight streaming through gaps in clouds near sunrise or sunset, separated by darker shadowed bands.
Science & Nature
Sun Dog
A sun dog is a bright, often coloured patch of light appearing about 22 degrees or more to the left or right of the sun, caused by ice crystals in the air.
Science & Nature
Green Flash
The green flash is a brief burst of green light seen at the top edge of the sun at sunrise or sunset — genuine optics, not a sailor's legend.
Science & Nature
Gloaming
The gloaming is twilight — chiefly the fading light of early evening, though it can also mean daybreak.
Science & Nature
Serein
Fine rain or mist falling from an apparently cloudless sky, typically shortly after sunset.
Rare & Beautiful English
Virga
Virga is rain or snow that falls from a cloud but evaporates before reaching the ground.
Science & Nature
Earthshine
Earthshine is sunlight that has bounced off Earth — seen from here as the faint glow on the dark portion of a crescent moon.
Science & Nature
Moonbow
A moonbow is a rainbow produced by moonlight instead of sunlight, usually appearing ghostly white to the naked eye.
Science & Nature
Aurora
An aurora is the glowing curtain of light in polar skies, produced when charged particles collide with atoms high in Earth's atmosphere.
Science & Nature
Zenith
The zenith is the point in the sky directly overhead — or, figuratively, the highest point of anything.
Science & Nature
Syzygy
A syzygy is an alignment of three celestial bodies in a straight line — most familiarly the Sun, Earth and Moon during an eclipse.
Science & Nature
Umbra
The umbra is the dark inner core of a shadow, where the light source is blocked completely.
Science & Nature
Penumbra
The penumbra is the pale outer part of a shadow, where the light source is only partly blocked.
Science & Nature
Analemma
An analemma is the lopsided figure-eight curve traced by the Sun's position when photographed from one fixed spot at the same clock time every day for a year.
Science & Nature
Perihelion
Perihelion is the point in an orbit where a body is closest to the Sun — for Earth, in early January.
Science & Nature
Derecho
A derecho is a widespread, long-lived, fast-moving windstorm from a band of thunderstorms, causing damage in a straight line rather than a rotating one.
Science & Nature
Albedo
Albedo is how reflective a surface is — the fraction of the light or radiation falling on it, usually sunlight, that it bounces back instead of absorbing.
Science & Nature