The photographer captures a picturesque scene where clouds appear in the sky, a rare type of cloud formed at high altitudes.
NASA shared an image that looks like an abstract painting taken by photographer P-M Heden on January 3. “Bright and shiny, iridescent colored ‘waves’ cover the sky near Tanndalen, Sweden,” NASA said.
Clouds of mother-of-pearl form in the lower stratosphere at an altitude of about 15 to 20 km, according to the British Weather Service (Met Office). The ice particles that make up the nacre cloud are much smaller than the ice particles in ordinary clouds. The small ice particles diffuse the light in a different way, creating a special iridescent color.
Clouds of mother-of-pearl are very rare. This winter, they only appear a few times in the northern hemisphere. Clouds of mother-of-pearl usually form over the polar region when it is cold, and the sun is just below the horizon.
