Stormchaser films a new cloud type during spectacular sunset

from Boing Boing:

Earlier this month, stormchasing photographer Mike Olbinski witnessed stunning and rare undulatus asperatus clouds roiling above the setting sun. 4K and headphones highly recommended.

Photograph

“We had an unusually fog-filled August here in the San Francisco area,” says California-based landscape and nature photographer ElmoFoto on IMGUR. 

“On the last full moon, I hiked above the fog to get this 3-minute exposure.”

Photographer's Website: Photography by Lorenzo Montezemolo

"School of Life" Monday's Watch and Listen This Week: The healing power of nature

A calm look at the solemnity of nature.

The World of Clouds

Here's a nice short on one of my favorite subjects, from our friends over at the Cloud Appreciation Society of which I became a proud honorary member upon publication of my book RECOGNIZE.

Probably The Most Beautiful Images I've Ever Seen Of Our Planet

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space | Fly Over | Nasa, ISS



Notes from the Vimeo page where the video was found:

Note: Still couldn't find any appropriate, reliable source describing
the technical setting for this footage. The same applies to any specific
information about the responsible person in charge of the photographs.
Please let me know, if you have any information, links or the like.

Time lapse sequences of photographs taken with a special low-light 4K-camera
by the crew of expedition 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from
August to October, 2011. All credit goes to them.

HD, refurbished, smoothed, retimed, denoised, deflickered, cut, etc.

Music: Jan Jelinek | Do Dekor, faitiche back2001
w+p by Jan Jelinek, published by Betke Edition
janjelinek.com | faitiche.de

Editing: Michael König | koenigm.com

Image Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory,
NASA Johnson Space Center, The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth
eol.jsc.nasa.gov

Shooting locations in order of appearance:

1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night
2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night
3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia
4. Aurora Australis south of Australia
5. Northwest coast of United States to Central South America at Night
6. Aurora Australis from the Southern to the Northern Pacific Ocean
7. Halfway around the World
8. Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East
9. Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East
10. Pass over Canada and Central United States at Night
11. Pass over Southern California to Hudson Bay
12. Islands in the Philippine Sea at Night
13. Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam
14. Views of the Mideast at Night
15. Night Pass over Mediterranean Sea
16. Aurora Borealis and the United States at Night
17. Aurora Australis over Indian Ocean
18. Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia at Night

Incredible video of Aurora Borealis

Norwegian landscape photographer Terje Sorgjerd spent one week around Kirkenes and the Norway-Russia border, in -25 Celsius temperature, to make this magnificent time-lapse video of the Aurora Borealis.

thanks, BoingBoing

Father and Son Launch APPLE iPhone into SPACE!!!

thanks, Cloud Appreciation Society

Catatumbo, The Everlasting Storm

from Fogonazos

The mysterious “Relámpago del Catatumbo” (Catatumbo lightning) is a unique natural phenomenon in the world. Located on the mouth of the Catatumbo river at Lake Maracaibo (Venezuela), the phenomenon is a cloud-to-cloud lightning that forms a voltage arc more than five kilometre high during 140 to 160 nights a year, 10 hours a night, and as many as 280 times an hour.

This almost permanent storm occurs over the marshlands where the Catatumbo River feeds into Lake Maracaibo and it is considered the greatest single generator of ozone in the planet, judging from the intensity of the cloud-to-cloud discharge and great frequency. The area sees an estimated 1,176,000 electrical discharges per year, with an intensity of up to 400,000 amperes, and visible up to 400 km away. This is the reason why the storm is also known as the Maracaibo Beacon as light has been used for navigation by ships for ages.

In 1595 sir Francis Drake tried to attack the city of Maracaibo but the local defence caught sight of his ships thanks to the light from the storm. It is also said that Catatumbo lightening gave Almirante Padilla victory over the Spanish float during the independence war, on july 24 1823.

The collision with the winds coming from the Andes Mountains causes the storms and associated lightning, a result of electrical discharges through ionised gases, specifically the methane created by the decomposition of organic matter in the marshes. Being lighter than air, the gas rises up to the clouds, feeding the storms.

Some local environmentalists hope to put the area under the protection of UNESCO, as it is an exceptional phenomenon, the greatest source of its type for regenerating the planet's ozone layer.

More info and sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The World’s First ‘Cloud Bar’ Opens in the UK

from my friends at The Cloud Appreciation Society

It may not serve any booze, but the Cloud Bar on the beach at Anderby Creek in Lincolnshire, UK, has been sanctioned by The Cloud Appreciation Society as the world’s first ‘Official Clouspotting Area’. And, since it’s launch on 1 April 2009, it is now open to the cloudspotting public.
The Cloud Bar was the idea of artist, and CAS member, Michael Trainor. Replacing a disused beach shelter, the handsome wooden structure looks out to sea from this unspoilt stretch of the Lincolnshire coastline. On the viewing platform, are ‘Cloud Menus’ identifying the different formations, mirrors that can be swiveled to reflect different parts of the sky and specially designed cloud-viewing seats, on which visitors can recline and enjoy the view.
Local members of the Cloud Appreciation Society and Society photo gallery editor, Ian Loxley, attended the opening ceremony, in which BBC weatherman (and Society member), Paul Hudson, cut the blue ribbon. It was a shame that the event was rather marred by the weather: there was barely a cloud in the sky.

RECOGNIZE

just in case you've never seen this:
(may i suggest the full screen mode, it's pretty cool)



buy the book direct here or possibly discounted at Amazon.