I’m fascinated by clouds. Most astronomers I know are interested in meteorology — in much the same way sky divers are interested in gravity — but in my case it’s more than that. I love interesting clouds, ones with unusual shapes, coloring, patterns. Mrs. BA is sick of me grabbing her and saying, "Look at that one!" all the time, if that gives you a clue of how often I do this.
Yesterday we had an odd cloud formation over my house; a layer with puffy cells in it that looked convective (that is, due to hot air rising and cool air sinking), and the lines between the darker puffs were bright, giving the whole thing the look and feel of a medical X-ray. I posted the image on Twitter and got lots of comments…
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…but the one from BATweep Ted_Rex was special, because he mentioned the Cloud Appreciation Society. It’s a website devoted to weirdos like me who like clouds. It has incredible pictures of clouds, and they’re archived in categories like cloud taxonomy (nimbus, stratus, and so on) as well as ones that look like other things… my favorite that I saw was the one shown here, which is astonishing.
There are places to talk about clouds and upload your own pictures. All in all, it’s a fine way to spend a little time… so you should save it away. For a sunny day.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
The Cloudspotters Guide book is pretty good too.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
The Cloudspotters Guide book is pretty good too.
Page one. Look up.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Phil, there was a recent 90 minute program on, IIRC, BBC3 or 4 about clouds, the science and the Cloud Appreciation Society, presented by the founder. I caught it on iPlayer.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
That is so cool! Reminds me of when I was a kid, laying back on the grass looking for fluffy bunnies in the sky!
BTW, anyone notice Googles logo in honor of the Missing Link?
May 20th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Some time ago I took this one. Looks like a giant fish head:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinzewind/3426489091/
May 20th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
A neat coincidence (for me) that you posted this. Just 2 days ago, I saw what I think was a cirrocumulus formation that literally had me dizzy, after looking up at it. Literally half the sky was covered by it, and the rest was fairly clear, with the sun on the clear side. The X-TReEeEeEME ™ 3-D effect of those countless little tufts of cloud was too much for my brain to handle!
Bookmarking that site; thanks.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
That’s a whale of a cloud.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
It looks like Rodan.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Mt. Rainier up here in the NW creates some very interesting cloud formations:
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090203.html
May 20th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Some shape that cloud has seen from this side!
May 20th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
The picture looks like a huge bird to me.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Cloud appreciation society | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
Cool stuff | I’m fascinated by clouds. Most astronomers I know are interested in meteorology — in much the same way sky divers are interested in gravity — but in my case i.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
For some reason, the cloud looks like Stephen Colbert’s ‘Eagle’ in his opening (and closing) Credits… now, why would I think of Colbert?
J/P=?
May 20th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
I always loved pelicans. Except when I was little, when I was scared to death of them.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
This post is putting me in a Joni Mitchell mood:
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow,
it’s clouds’ illusions I recall, I really don’t know clouds at all.
Great, now I’ve going to have that tune in my head all night. Damn you, Plait!
May 20th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
It’s an ANGEL, you fools! An ANGEL!
May 21st, 2009 at 4:51 am
As an amateur astronomer, I’d always rather the sky was clear! Certainly always at night and when the clouds are about in the day I’m always hoping they clear off soon…
May 21st, 2009 at 9:41 am
No, you guys!
It’s the 1701-D!
(Although it looks like somebody broke her back.)
May 21st, 2009 at 10:24 am
To me, it looks like the eagle on the back of the money…
May 21st, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Someone told me about the Cloud Appreciation Society when they saw my Lenticular Cloud over Roswell, NM (which you can find on the site). I spent ages admiring those clouds – thanks for posting this eagle. I think it’s my new favorite!
May 21st, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think it looks like Jesus.
June 12th, 2009 at 8:18 am
My first impression was that it looks like an angel. I wonder if that it can be done with photo shop in the computer. I am somewhat of a sceptic on this one because it looks like the wind is going in two directions. .
June 12th, 2009 at 9:46 am
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