Radiant (meteor shower) Radiant (meteor shower) The radiant or apparent radiant of a meteor shower is the celestial point in the sky from which (from the point of view of a terrestrial observer) the paths of meteors appear to originate. The Perseids, for example, are meteors which appear to come from a point within the constellation of Perseus. Meteor paths appear at random locations in the sky, but the apparent paths of two or more meteors from the same shower will converge at the radiant. The radiant is the vanishing point of the meteor paths, which are parallel lines in three-dimensional space, as
Anticrepuscular rays Anticrepuscular rays Anticrepuscular rays, or antisolar rays, are atmospheric optical phenomena similar to crepuscular rays, but appear opposite of the Sun in the sky. Anticrepuscular rays are nearly parallel, but appear to converge toward the antisolar point due to linear perspective. Anticrepuscular rays are most frequently visible around sunrise or sunset. Appearing to radiate from the Sun, crepuscular rays usually look much brighter than anticrepuscular rays. This is because the atmospheric light scattering making the crepuscular rays visible occurs at low angles to the horizon (see Mie theory). Although anticrepuscular rays appear to converge toward the antisolar point, the convergence