Posted on 03/02/2015 4:39:52 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: It is not every day that such an interesting cloud photobombs your image. The original plan was to photograph a rare angular conjunction of Mars and Venus that occurred a week and a half ago, with the added bonus of a crescent Moon and the International Space Station (ISS) both passing nearby. Unfortunately, on Madeira Island, Portugal, this event was clouded out. During the next day, however, a spectacular lenticular cloud appeared before sunset, so the industrious astrophotographer quickly formulated a new plan. A close look at the resulting image reveals the Moon visible toward the left of the frame, while underneath, near the bottom, are the famous planets with Venus being the brighter. It was the unexpected lenticular cloud, though, perhaps looking like some sort of futuristic spaceship, that stole the show. The setting Sun illuminated the stationary cloud (and everything else) from the bottom, setting up an intricate pattern of shadows, layers, and brightly illuminated regions, all seen evolving in a corresponding video. Mars and Venus will next appear this close on the sky in late August, but whether any place on Earth will catch them behind such a photogenic cloud is unknown.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit and Copyright: Nuno Serrão]
“Lenticular Cloud”
Yeah. Right. So They Say.
LOL!
Looks like an exploding huge manatee.
Oh The Humanity! LOL!
I AM NOT GOING TO COMMENT, I AM NOT GOING TO COMMENT, I AM NOT GOING TO COMMENT! (getting wild in your old age, Sunky?)
Naturally, I didn’t say that the cloud came from Uranus, because that would be really immature. Pull my finger.
Could be a big fluffy cat.
Does “lenticular” mean what I think it means?
An attempt to make “bean-shaped” sound sophisticated?
That’s using the ol’ Bean! I never thought of it THAT way!
hahahahaha
That looks like a giant sarcophagus, Mr. Civilizations.
It’s nice to go on the APOD and enlarge the picture enough to see
Venus and Mars. The moon looks pretty dang good too.
Thank you for the post and ping, Sir.
Cotton candy!
Perhaps a "Space Whale" ....
It's Gamera! Holy clap!
Gamera is really neat.
He is made of turtle meat.
(nod to MST3K :) )
Check the time lapse video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbLGbJbO1ZU
Nice! Thanks WP!
Your Favorite Search Engine will show you numerous pictures of lenticular clouds, if you ask it politely. Some are really spectacular.
"Bing" showed me this one, over Fujiyama:
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