Astronomy Picture of the Day
Posted By admin On February 20, 2011 @ 10:02 pm In Photo Essays | Comments Disabled
[1]
Mammatus Clouds Over Olympic Valley
Credit & License: [2] Matt Saal (Wikipedia [3])
Explanation: What’s happened to these clouds? Normal cloud bottoms are flat [4] because moist warm air that rises and cools will condense [5] into water droplets at a very specific temperature, which usually corresponds to a very specific height. After water droplets form [6] that air becomes an opaque cloud. Under some conditions, however, cloud [7] pockets can develop that contain large drop [8]lets of water or ice that fall into clear air as they evaporate. Such pockets [9] may occur inturbulent [10] air near a thunderstorm [11], being seen near the top of an anvil cloud [12], for example. Resulting mammatus clouds [13] can appear especially dramatic [14] if sunlit from the side. These mammatus clouds [15] were photographed last August overOlympic Valley [16], California [17], USA [18].
Visit the NASA/JPL website to view more Astronomy Pictures of the Day [19]
Article printed from Recorder Online: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com
URL to article: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2011/02/20/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-16/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/mammatus_saal_4288.jpg
[2] License:: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
[3] Wikipedia: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mammatussquawvalley.jpg
[4] Normal cloud bottoms are flat: http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/wea00/wea00041.htm
[5] condense: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud#Formation:_How_the_air_becomes_saturated
[6] droplets form: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalClouds/
[7] cloud: http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/home.rxml
[8] large drop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaHLwla2WiI
[9] pockets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket
[10] turbulent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbulence
[11] thunderstorm: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101130.html
[12] anvil cloud: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040218.html
[13] mammatus clouds: http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/oth/mm.rxml
[14] especially dramatic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdvcXcTpX1w
[15] mammatus clouds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammatus_clouds
[16] Olympic Valley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Valley,_California
[17] California: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California
[18] USA: http://www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/us-puzzle.html
[19] Astronomy Pictures of the Day: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/
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