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Credit & Copyright: Peter Lowenstein
Explanation:
Yes, but how many dark clouds have a multicolored lining?
Pictured, behind this darker cloud, is a
pileus
iridescent cloud, a group of water droplets that have a uniformly similar size
and
so together
diffract
different colors of sunlight by different amounts.
The
above image was taken just
before sunset when it was noticed by chance by a photographer in
Murambi East, near
Odzi Valley and the
Mtanda
Range of
Zimbabwe.
Also captured were unusual cloud ripples above the
pileus cloud.
The formation of a rare pileus cloud capping a common
cumulus cloud is an indication
that the lower cloud is
expanding upward
and might well develop into a
storm.
In this case, however, only a few minutes after the
colorful cloud was noticed, it
disappeared.
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day