1 day ago •
Mammatus Clouds over Nebraska
When do cloud bottoms appear like bubbles? Normally, cloud bottoms are flat. This is because moist warm air that rises and cools will condense into water droplets at a specific temperature, which usually corresponds to a very specific height. As water droplets grow, an opaque cloud forms. Under some conditions, however, cloud pockets can develop that contain large droplets of water or ice that fall into clear air as they evaporate. Such pockets may occur in turbulent air near a thunderstorm. Resulting mammatus clouds can appear especially dramatic if sunlit from the side. The mammatus clouds pictured here were photographed over Hastings, Nebraska during 2004 June.
Related content
Mercury in Silhouette The small, dark, round spot in this solar close up is planet Mercury. In the high resolution telescopic image, a colorized stac...
1 day ago
M16 and the Eagle Nebula A star cluster around 2 million years young surrounded by natal clouds of dust and glowing gas, M16 is also known as The Eag...
1 day ago
The Star Streams of NGC 5907 Grand tidal streams of stars seem to surround galaxy NGC 5907. The arcing structures form tenuous loops extending more t...
1 day ago
Young Stars in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud How do stars form? To help find out, astronomers created this tantalizing false-color composition of dust clou...
1 day ago
Milky Way over Uruguayan Lighthouse Can a lighthouse illuminate a galaxy? No, but in the featured image, gaps in light emanating from the Jose Ignac...
1 day ago