Astronomers are always looking up, but sometimes they see interesting things that aren't as far up as we normally think they're looking
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!"
Credit: Peter Michaud
| 
