February 19, 2014
In the grand ledger of cosmic time, a human life is breathtakingly brief. But brevity is not insignificance.
A Rainbow Pileus Cloud over Zimbabwe
Birthday · February 19, 2014
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APOD published February 19, 2014. Credit: Peter Lowenstein. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
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. Follow APOD on: Facebook (Daily) (Sky) (Spanish) (Arabic) or Google Plus (Daily)
Image credit: Peter Lowenstein