As I dragged my poor, dejected bones away from work today I noticed an interesting phenomenon. The sunset was taking place as it normally does, but it was only visible through a narrow band of clear skies on the horizon. Dense clouds acted as an opaque curtain above, with the horizon not far below. It was quite cool.

That narrow slit in the sky, however, was going to do some pretty cool things as the sun’s rays came through it at various angles. Once the sun began to duck below the horizon, its light began to bathe the clouds with color.

These photos were taken from the hill behind the University of Mary. I got more angles than these, but I think the three photos shown here best convey the story behind tonight’s dramatic skies. What turned out as just a unique window on the sunset became a diffraction grating of sorts (for you science geeks out there) and it was like experiencing three sunsets in one!