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Credit & Copyright: Vojan Höfer
Explanation:
Vivid and lustrous,
wafting iridescent waves of color wash across this skyscape
from northern Sweden.
Known as nacreous
clouds or mother-of-pearl clouds, they are rare.
But their
unforgettable
appearance was captured in this snapshot on
January 12 with the Sun just below the local horizon.
A type of
polar
stratospheric cloud,
they form when unusually cold temperatures in the usually cloudless
lower stratosphere form ice crystals.
Still sunlit at altitudes of around 15 to 25 kilometers, the clouds
diffract the sunlight even when the Sun itself is hidden from direct view.
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January February |
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: clouds
Publications with words: clouds
See also:
- APOD: 2024 November 19 Á Undulatus Clouds over Las Campanas Observatory
- APOD: 2024 July 7 Á Iridescent Clouds over Sweden
- APOD: 2023 August 20 Á A Roll Cloud Over Wisconsin
- APOD: 2023 February 12 Á Mammatus Clouds over Nebraska
- Nacreous Clouds over Lapland
- A Retreating Thunderstorm at Sunset
- A Fire Rainbow over West Virginia