Sometimes when the sun shines through patchy cloud, the rays are visible. However, they are visibly spreading out as if the sun was only in the upper atmosphere rather than a few million miles away. The rays should be more or less parallel because of the distance to the source but they visibly diverge or splay out. I can’t work out why/how. I’m not sure refraction is the answer nor that the light is bouncing off an illuminated cloud that is higher than the others. Can you shed any light?
In: 9
Sun rays do not diverge through clouds. They diverge in general, [in all situations](https://images.medicinenet.com/images/slideshow/xl-sq-promos/sunlight-and-your-health.jpg), since light travels in a straight line and the source is a [spherical object](https://c8.alamy.com/zooms/9/01f2105555d94202b635ff582b8cbfaa/w314tm.jpg). Clouds just enhance the effect.
In fact, it is because the sun is so far away that the sphere looks very small form our perspective and we can trace the rays at such an angle. If the sun was in the upper atmosphere we would actually be more likely to see [parallel rays](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCbufrSX0AQX2T9.jpg). So this misconception (commonly used for flat earth arguments) is not only flawed, it’s backwards.
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