Lionel
Nov 27 2003, 01:40 PM
Astronomers are always looking up. Sometimes they see interesting things that aren't as far up as we normally think they're looking.
Peter Michaud, a public information officer for the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, took this picture yesterday of an unusual cloud formation above the islands. It is called a lenticular cloud, due to its lens-shaped appearance. These clouds are formed by so-called "mountain waves" of air created by strong winds forced over high mountains.
In this case, the mountain is Mauna Kea, a 13,796-foot peak (4,260 meters) where one of the two Gemini telescopes sits, along with several other observatories. (A twin to the Hawaiian Gemini scope is situated in Chile.)
"At the high points in the wave, moisture in the air condenses out to form a cloud," Michaud explained. "In the photo you can see that the wave established this morning displayed two peaks. Actually there were four -- two more were downstream from Mauna Loa, but the other two were not as impressive as Mauna Kea's!"
View:
Full Article | Source:
Space.com
Journey
Nov 27 2003, 04:25 PM
Nice picture, Lionel- I was on this very mountain two years ago working on a telecom site, it was wierd to be in the snow - the only place in Hawaii where you can walk in the snow!
Mentalcase
Nov 27 2003, 07:58 PM
Looks like some kind of vortex. Very cool picture!!
Kryso
Nov 28 2003, 12:44 AM
That is one strange - but amazing - looking cloud!
Halo_Jones
Nov 28 2003, 09:33 AM
Fabulous looking cloud, to me it looks like a giant sea turtle
I wonder if clouds like these could be responsible for some UFO reports?
magic charm
Nov 28 2003, 10:39 AM
what a beautifull photo it would be amazing to see something like that.
Psycho Penguin
Nov 29 2003, 02:32 AM
That is a very cool picture.
klamath
Nov 29 2003, 02:36 AM
Man those aliens are smart! This isn't a lenticular cloud, it's a camouflaged UFO!!
bortaf
Nov 30 2003, 04:13 PM
No no it can't be a camoflaged UFO cos they allways turn their lights on to camoflage themselves
antares
Dec 1 2003, 03:29 PM
Nice picture! This is a lenticular cloud. They typically form by high winds over complex terrain (mountains) and usually look like saucers.
Great Big Sea
Dec 3 2003, 02:17 AM
One word: Stingray!
djdodo
Dec 3 2003, 08:57 PM
very interesting picture .. the shape of the whole right beneath the cloud look like its gona swallow the houses
it looks so compressed between the layers of the sky ..
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please
click here.