August 21, 2005
Some stars end in silence, some in fire, and some leave behind the raw materials for birthdays.
A Lenticular Cloud Over Hawai'i
Birthday · August 21, 2005
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published August 21, 2005. Credit: Peter Michaud (Gemini Obs.). A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Can a cloud do that? Actually, pictured above are several clouds all stacked up into one striking lenticular cloud. Normally, air moves much more horizontally than it does vertically. Sometimes, however, such as when wind comes off of a mountain or a hill, relatively strong vertical oscillations take place as the air stabilizes. The dry air at the top of an oscillation may be quite stratified in moisture content, and hence forms clouds at each layer where the air saturates with moisture. The result can be a lenticular cloud with a strongly layered appearance. The above picture was taken near Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA.
Image credit: Peter Michaud (Gemini Obs.)