INTENSE AIRGLOW OVER MAINE: Not every green light in the sky is the aurora borealis. On Sept. 2nd, Mike Taylor was in the Acadia National Park of Maine when he witnessed an intense display of airglow:
Upside down rainbows and other unusual sights
- Maria
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Re: Upside down rainbows and other unusual sights
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
- Maria
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Re: Upside down rainbows and other unusual sights
AURORAS AND A FIREBALL: On Sept. 11th, Alex Conu went outdoors to photograph auroras over the Lofoten Islands of Norway. He got more than he bargained for. "BAM!" he says. "This -8 magnitude fireball streaked across the sky."
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
- Maria
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Re: Upside down rainbows and other unusual sights
DARK MORNING RAY: Yesterday, Sept. 15th, Stephen O'Keefe of Houston, Texas, was driving to work just before sunrise when a dark ray sprung up from the eastern horizon. "It was very tall and all by itself," says O'Keefe, who snapped this picture using his mobile phone.
The solitary nature of the dark ray makes it look less familiar than it actually is. This is an example of a crepuscular ray--essentially a shadow of a distant cloud carving an immense tube of darkness in the early morning sky. Drivers see these rays all the time. Usually they appear in fan-shaped groups that trace the ragged edges of clouds. This time, we're guessing, a single dense cloud did the trick.
The sun isn't the only thing that can make such a ray. The full Moon can do it too. Be alert tonight for crepuscular rays spreading from the eastern sky as the Harvest Moon rises into the night.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
- Maria
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Re: Upside down rainbows and other unusual sights
A STACK OF HOT PANCAKES: On Sept. 15th, something strange happened to the setting sun in Denmark. "It was extremely spectacular (and more than a little weird)," says Liselotte Kahns who took this picture from Nr. Lyngby, Northern Jutland.
What turned the sun into a stack of hot pancakes? Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley explains:
"This sunset is a powerful example of 'light ray channelling,'" he says. "Rays from the setting sun get trapped between strong temperature inversion layers, warm air above cold. Their temperature gradients bounce the rays up and down like a waveguide forcing them to travel tens and sometimes even hundreds of miles around Earth's circumference. The rays escape to form multiple slit-like sun images. This mirage's extreme form is the Novaya Zemlya effect when a rectangular sun-stack shows long before true dawn or after sunset."
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
- Maria
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Re: Upside down rainbows and other unusual sights
'A-BOMB' SPRITE OVER THE CARIBBEAN: Yesterday, Frankie Lucena of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, photographed an enormous 'A-bomb' sprite over the Carribean Sea. For a split-second, the sky lit up like this.
Oscar van der Velde, a member of the Lightning Research Group at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, explains what Lucena phtographed:
"This type of sprite is often called 'jellyfish' or 'A-bomb,' and ranks as the largest type of sprite in both horizontal and vertical dimensions," he says. "It consists of a bright halo approximately 85 km above Earth's surface surrounding sprite elements with long tendrils reaching down as low as 30 km above ground level."
"This kind of sprite tends to be triggered by a very impulsive positive cloud-to-ground flash," van der Velde adds.
The curious thing is, Lucena did not observe an instigating lightning bolt. Instead, just before the sprite appeared, he recorded a bright point-like flash of light. "Was it a cosmic ray hitting the camera?" wonders Lucena. Play the entire video to see the flash. Another possibility: The point-like flash could have been a cloud-to-ground strike mostly eclipsed by intervening clouds.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
- Maria
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Re: Upside down rainbows and other unusual sights
Rare event = moon rainbow and aurora
A BEAUTIFUL COINCIDENCE: What are the odds? Catching a lunar rainbow beneath a ribbon of green auroras is rare. Yet it happened twice this week in Iceland. Here is the first time.
And here is the second:
"Big rain clouds had been rolling over the whole day with good gaps in between," says photographer Sigurdur William Brynjarsson, who took the picture on Sept. 20th from Reykjanes, Iceland. "The Moon was almost full and aurora activity was picking up. I knew conditions were perfect to capture a lunar rainbow with the Northern Lights together."
"I've never witnessed a lunar rainbow and lady Aurora dancing hand in hand before," he adds. "What a night... =) "
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
Re: Upside down rainbows and other unusual sights
Wow ! That second photo from Iceland is remarkable. Thanks for all these, Maria.
The picture of the sun above resembles a yurt rather than that prosaic breakfast food...stunning pink, isn't it ?