Explanation:
As the total phase of
last week's solar eclipse
came to an end, sunlight streaming past the edge of the Moon
created the fleeting appearance of a glistening
diamond ring in the sky.
And while most
eclipse watchers
did not consider clouds a welcome sight,
a view through thin clouds north of Cairns in Queensland, Australia
also revealed these remarkable flickering
shadow bands.
Projected onto the cloud layer, the bands are parallel
to the sliver of emerging sunlight.
Caused by turbulence in
Earth's atmosphere refracting the sliver of sunlight,
the narrow bands were captured
in this brief, 1/1000th second exposure.
