Phantasm of the Antarctic Atmosphere

A lenticular cloud hovers above pressure ridges in the sea ice near Mount Discovery in Antarctica. (Photograph: Courtesy Michael Studinger/NASA) If you've followed ImaGeo much, you've probably noticed that I'm obsessed with clouds, and particularly a kind of cloud that often takes on a phantasmagorical appearance. It's a called a lenticular cloud, and I've posted a number of images of them since I launched this blog. (Here and here, for example.) So I was planning on taking a break from lenticulars for awhile, but then I found the photo above and felt that it was so spectacular that I just had to share it. This lenticular cloud hovers above the sea ice near Antarctica's Mt. Discovery. In the middle distance is a jumble of jagged ice — a pressure ridge shoved up by the ever shifting sea ice. The scene was photographed in November by Michael Studinger, head of NASA's ...