                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2022 September 6

                    An Iridescent Pileus Cloud over China
               Image Credit & Copyright: Jiaqi Sun （孙嘉琪）

   Explanation: Yes, but how many dark clouds have a multicolored lining?
   Pictured, behind this darker cloud, is a pileus iridescent cloud, a
   group of water droplets that have a uniformly similar size and so
   together diffract different colors of sunlight by different amounts.
   The featured image was taken last month in Pu'er, Yunnan Province,
   China. Also captured were unusual cloud ripples above the pileus cloud.
   The formation of a rare pileus cloud capping a common cumulus cloud is
   an indication that the lower cloud is expanding upward and might well
   develop into a storm.

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