Posted on 10/17/2009 2:22:43 PM PDT by Daffynition
Clouds come in many shapes, sizes, colors and forms—all unique and beautiful in their own way. Whether it is a sky full of red and orange clouds lighting up the Brooklyn Bridge or rare mother-of-pearl clouds in Scandinavia, we found some unbelievably stunning photos that capture fascinating cloud formations from around the globe. Have a look at the pictures below—and you never know, they may inspire you to look up to the sky every once in a while.
Florence, Italy
As Frank Slack stood over the Arno river, the combination of the setting sun and clouds rolling in produced this magnificent yellow and gray sky. Photo courtesy of Frank Slack via
Huntsville, Alabama
Wes Thomas was lucky enough to witness these low, fast-moving clouds one night over Jones Valley. To produce the blurred effect, he set the camera to a 30-second exposure. Photo courtesy of Wesley Thomas via Flickr.com
New York, New York
While walking the Brooklyn Bridge, Ben Brown captured this red sky moment minutes after a summer shower soaked the city. Photo courtesy of Ben Brown via Flickr.com
Rio Vista, California
Looking out toward Mount Diablo from the patio of her home, amateur photographer Rebecca snapped this mixture of red clouds and a blue sky. Photo courtesy of Rebecca via Flickr.com
Walla Walla, Washington
When the sun is unusually high and the temperature is hot, sometimes a circumhorizontal arc like this one forms—which was immortalized by Lynn Suckow one summer afternoon. Photo courtesy of Lynn Suckow via Flickr.com
Valencia, Spain
According to Marialuisa Wittlin, these lens-shaped clouds loomed over the mountains all day and she was able to get a shot of them before the sun finished setting—when this lovely scene disappeared. Photo courtesy of Marialuisa Wittlin via Flickr.com
Buskerud, Norway
For almost an entire month in January 2008, these nacreous clouds—which are known for their mother-of-pearl colors and only form in frigid temperatures—graced the Scandinavia skies. Photo courtesy of Kalinka Irina Martín Iglesias
Central Illinois
When sunlight is diffused through thin clouds with uniform water droplets, it produces vivid colors like these in the photo above—a phenomenon called iridescence. Photo courtesy of Tim Stone via Flickr.com
I’ve got a new desktop background... thanks.
Was that from “War of the Worlds?”
looks like two giant hands....
Still beautiful...
This one's my new desktop background. It's almost looks like an ocean wave...
The arc isn't a rainbow in the traditional sense—it is caused by light passing through wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds. The sight occurs only when the sun is very high in the sky (more than 58° above the horizon). What's more, the hexagonal ice crystals that make up cirrus clouds must be shaped like thick plates with their faces parallel to the ground.
When light enters through a vertical side face of such an ice crystal and leaves from the bottom face, it refracts, or bends, in the same way that light passes through a prism. If a cirrus's crystals are aligned just right, the whole cloud lights up in a spectrum of colors.
Thanks for sharing.
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