Question: I've noticed that in English there are several words which describe light or radiance remaining in the sky after the sun *has set*.

For instance, there is an "afterglow" which, in my opinion, refers to a more effulgent kind of sunlight that is scattered in the sky after sunset. There is "gloaming" which refers to a dim and faint light. There is "dusk" which is a darker stage of twilight. I can also think of crepuscular light, but I think it has a bit [different meaning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepuscular_rays) with a subtle twilight connotation and also looks a tad esoteric.

As you might have already noticed, there are several words which denote sunset colours, but I wasn't able to find anything more precise, which would imply the same glow but with a reference to a sunrise.

If we check a definition of an "afterglow" in the [Oxford Dictionary](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/afterglow), we can see that it is explicitly stated:

> 
> after the sun has set.
> 
> 
> 

In case of other words such as "gloaming", "twilight" or "crepuscular" this is not mentioned. Can a native speaker confirm that I may use these words in the context of a sunrise glow?

The closest I've found so far is [twilight](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/twilight)
and the word combination "sunrise twilight" can be found in different text corpora. But I am eminently willing to know whether there is a more precise word.

P.S. "dawn", "cockcrow" and "daybreak" denote mostly a time instance, hence I think they are irrelevant here.

Answer: 
Merriam-Webster's (the preferred American reference dictionary) suggests "alpenglow," which arrived in English via German at some point in the late-ish 19th century. Though I think the arguments made in Answer 1 are thorough and well researched, they don't quite convince me. Words such as crepuscular connote, if not dennote, post-sunset to most readers. Using them may have the support of the OED (a most peculiar dictionary, as it is based entirely on historical usage), but will be confusing to most readers. The phrase "pre-dawn light" is dull and not evoctive, but it has the benefit of being unambiguous.
***[First light](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/first-light)*** is used to refer to the luminescence of dawn:

> 
> the time when light is first seen in the morning : dawn
> 
> 
> * She was up at first light.
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> 
> 

(M-W)