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Birthday · January 16, 2022

A Retreating Thunderstorm at Sunset

January 16, 2022

On your birthday, photons that left distant stars before humans walked the Earth finally completed their journey. You began yours.

A Retreating Thunderstorm at Sunset

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APOD published January 16, 2022. Credit: Alan Dyer (The Amazing Sky). A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

Behind the image

A Retreating Thunderstorm at Sunset

Original APOD · January 16, 2022

What type of cloud is that? This retreating cumulonimbus cloud, more commonly called a thundercloud, is somewhat unusual as it contains the unusual bumpiness of a mammatus cloud on the near end, while simultaneously producing falling rain on the far end. Taken in mid-2013 in southern Alberta, Canada, the cloud is moving to the east, into the distance, as the sun sets in the west, behind the camera. In the featured image, graphic sunset colors cross the sky to give the already photogenic cloud striking orange and pink hues. A darkening blue sky covers the background. Further in the distance, a rising, waxing, gibbous moon is visible on the far right.

Image credit: Alan Dyer (The Amazing Sky)

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