Hooded mountain peak in Granada catches NASA’s eye

Beautiful image of a cap cloud hovering over Albaicín in Granada

Featured as NASA’s astronomy image of the day yesterday, this stunning sunset image was captured in the district of Albaicín in Granada.

Taken back in January, the image shows the unusual cloud structure, formed in the shape of a bell, appearing to perch upon the summit of the Veleta peak, illuminated by the setting sun behind…

The formation of such a cloud is most unlikely and is known by meteorologists as Pileus – or more commonly by us ‘non-cloudies’ as a Cap cloud…

An orographic cloud that hovers over an isolated mountain peak, a cap cloud is formed when humid air pushed upward by the mountain, cools and condenses into droplets and is then shaped by horizontal upper level winds. Google kindly simplifies it as: ‘much like breath becoming visible as it mixes with the air on a cold morning’.

A beautiful cloud formation mixed with dreamy sunset colours and picture-perfect landscape, it’s not hard to see why this image has gained so much attention.

Nice, eh?