Magnificent Virga Display
Taken by Helio C. Vital on November 27, 2013 @
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Camera Used: SONY DSC-HX300
Exposure Time: 1/250
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO: 100
Date Taken: 2013:11:27 19:18:45
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Details:
November 27, 2013 had been a warm day. The sun was about to set and my expectations of getting an interesting shot of the twilight sky over Rio were low, as I watched a thick blanket of clouds cover it almost entirely. To my surprise however, the sky suddenly became golden colored as grazing sunlight from the horizon unexpectedly managed to shed directly on the clouds. The show was just starting. Some seconds later, several majestic golden, yellow and red cascades would show up like magic, lighting up the whole western sky in a breathtaking colorful display. Somehow, a fortuitous combination of atmospheric and astronomical conditions had occurred, allowing the light from the setting sun to act as a spotlight, brightly illuminating from below the several curtain-like structures that had suddenly formed. My impression is that a drop in air temperature due to sunset possibly triggered further water vapor condensation and precipitation from the threatening clouds. In addition, the presence of dry air in the warmer atmospheric layers just above Earth`s surface added to the impact of direct sunlight, causing the droplets to evaporate before reaching the ground, an interesting phenomenon known as "invisible rain" or "virga". As you may gather from the photos, that was a splendorous atmospheric display over Rio de Janeiro at sunset and I am very thankful and happy for being able to witness, capture and share it with you all. A Sony DSC-HX300 camera was used for the shots, taken from 21:18 to 21:23 UTC, as the altitude of the Sun varied from 0.4 to -0.4 degree.
Photographer's website:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98669508@N03/sets/72157641065270113/
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