Opposition effect at Comb Wash
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The mid-morning sun on a clear day shows a nice example of the "opposition effect." We took the photo from the edge of Comb Ridge with the sun directly behind us. The bright spot at the lower center is the "antisolar point" directly opposite the sun. The trees, grasses, and sagebrush cover their own shadows at this point so that we see only directly reflected sunlight. As we look toward the edges of the scene, we are seeing shadows along with the reflected sunlight and the image is darker.

Click the camera to see a closeup photo.


EPOD This photo was shown on
Earth Science
Picture of the Day
for 09-11-2005