APOD
Nacreous Clouds over Sweden
February 1, 2025Vojan Höfer
About This Image
Vivid and lustrous, wafting iridescent waves of color wash across this skyscape from northern Sweden. Known as nacreous clouds or mother-of-pearl clouds, they are rare. But their unforgettable appearance was captured in this snapshot on January 12 with the Sun just below the local horizon. A type of polar stratospheric cloud, they form when unusually cold temperatures in the usually cloudless lower stratosphere form ice crystals. Still sunlit at altitudes of around 15 to 25 kilometers, the clouds diffract the sunlight even when the Sun itself is hidden from direct view.
On This Day in Space History
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry, leading to major changes in shuttle operations.
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