11 thoughts on “Mark McCaughrean”
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Mark McCaughrean says: Thanks, Margret; sounds like I was quite lucky on that day then. Interestingly, I expect that most people up there at the same time didn’t notice it: it’s not the obvious thing to do, looking at the Sun :-)
Indeed, if I recall correctly, I first noticed the corona (which was coming and going quite rapidly) when taking a picture down towards the glacier. The Sun was in the shot, but rather attenuated by the camera optics, making it easy to notice the corona. But once I knew it was there, it was very easy to observe naked-eye as well, blocking the Sun with my hand.
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Margret says:
Amazing photo. I’ve been up there a few times and have never seen anything like this. Very dense fog, yes; clear, crystalline air, yes; Alpine choughs riding the thermals, yes – so, worth a trip regardless of the weather!
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Amazing photo. I've been up there a few times and have never seen anything like this. Very dense fog, yes; clear, crystalline air, yes; Alpine choughs riding the thermals, yes – so, worth a trip regardless of the weather! says:
I’ve been up there a few times and have never seen anything like this. Very dense fog, yes; clear, crystalline air, yes; Alpine choughs riding the thermals, yes – so, worth a trip regardless of the weather!
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Laurence Green says:
Many thanks, Mark, for the additional information you provided about the taking of your unique photo – I found it most interesting. One day perhaps I may see such an event when I plan to visit the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland next year.
Kind regards.
Laurence
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Mark McCaughrean says:
Thanks, Laurence. It was indeed a wonderful sight, but in some sense, the photo slightly overplays it. Not because it has been heavily processed or anything, but simply because in real life, it was a very fleeting spectacle, coming and going rapidly as the wind blew the ragged clouds over the summit. Conversely, the picture allows you to stare at it and soak up the beauty :-)
Given the particular topography of the Jungfraujoch, I’d hazard a guess that such conditions are quite common there and it seems possible that multi-ringed coronae might be seen quite often. So make the trip: it’s well worthwhile in any case :-)
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Laurence Green says:
Brilliant, Mark. What a unique spectacle to see! Lucky, so lucky, you.
Laurence
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Mark says:
Thanks, John: clouds were blowing up sporadically over the Jungfraujoch from the Aletsch glacier, and at points where they were thin, there was a nice corona to be seen, albeit rapidly changing as the clouds blew through.
That said, I didn’t quite realise how rare and special a 4-ringed corona is until I did a little checking on Les Cowley’s Atmospheric Optics later on.
Lyman Jordan III 
beautiful 
Margret 
Laurence Green 
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8 thoughts on “Mark McCaughrean”
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Hayley says:
Wow, it looks like those fungi that stick out from trees. Phellinus spp.
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Kathryn says:
If you were a bad parent, this would be perfect for the big bad boogy man, something from which nightmares are/could be made. All that said, it is an awesome formation and I liked the details you gave. Don’t envy you the ride…
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Anonymous says:
Magic sky! Why isn’t this among the favourites?
Greetings from a cloud lover – Henrik Kolden, Norway -
Laurence Green says:
Mark, many thanks indeed for all the background information relating to your memorable photo. You certainly showed true grit and dedication in capturing this view for us to share, for sure.
I hope you have managed to dry out now…
Laurence
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Mark says:
Thanks, Lawrence. It was indeed very impressive, not least because it was also moving rapidly towards me and within a couple of minutes after taking this picture, I was in the midst of the accompanying downpour.
Quite literally, in fact: I was actually out on my roadbike at the time after a long ride out towards Utrecht, and had about 25km left to get home at nearly 8pm. With sunset imminent and no lights for my bike (ouch), I had no choice but to cycle right through the middle of this beast, rather than take shelter.
Rain is just wet and within I was soaked, but that’s ok in the grand scheme of things. The roads and paths quickly filled with a lot of standing water which, on a roadbike, was less than ideal. Then there was very strong, gusty wind, also sub-optimal. But the biggest concern was the few strikes of lightning which the storm emitted: in the flatlands of Holland, there’s nowhere to hide.
I survived, along with the picture, but it was all a bit hairy … :-)
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Laurence Green says:
Highly impressive indeed – and what a sight this must have been to behold. Definitely gaze-stopping stuff!
Laurence
Hayley 
Kathryn 
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2 thoughts on “Mark McCaughrean”
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Mark McCaughrean says:
Thanks, Laurence. And it just goes to show that you don’t even need to leave your back garden to witness such beauty ;-)
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Laurence Green says:
This is what I like – ever changing drama! One of my real favourites of clouds, and which never fail to enthral me.
Laurence
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5 thoughts on “Mark McCaughrean”
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Mark McCaughrean says:
Thanks, Anne & Anthony: I agree, I quite like the impression of wind-blown speed in the cirrus, contrasted with the apparent solidity and steadfastness of the cumulus below.
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Spectacular cloud vista, Mark. One could almost imagine it being a landscape on earth, with a streaming snowy blizzard scouring the mountains of antarctica.
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Mark McCaughrean says:
Thanks, Becky. It was a lovely flight, in fact; before rising above the clouds as in this picture, there were a whole series of beautiful layers, alternately sunlit and dark. I may send more of the pictures to CAS, but you can see a few in my flickr photostream, starting at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markmccaughrean/8395522511/in/photostream
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One thought on “Mark McCaughrean”
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Mark McCaughrean says:
Well, not quite from the flight deck: I was just a passenger, not flying the plane (on this occasion :-)
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2 thoughts on “Mark McCaughrean”
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D.Atass says:
OMG I LOVES CLOUDS
TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
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3 thoughts on “Mark McCaughrean”
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Rob Werran says:
Stunning for its rarity as much as its sublime beauty. Only seen by the hawk-eyed amongst us! Has anyone seen the Mammatus far left-centre?
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Mark McCaughrean says:
Thanks, Beate: you can always be counted on for comments on my pictures, even several months after their submission :-) I’ve been quiet of late but have some interesting pictures stacked up in my collection awaiting a bit of Lightroom work, so look out for some new submissions soon, I hope.
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Beate Blecher says:
I love this! Don’t think I’ve ever seen cirrus in combination with fallsreak holes.
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4 thoughts on “Mark McCaughrean”
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Mark McCaughrean says:
I think you may be right, Anthony: there appears to be a “lumpier” layer in the top half of the picture, above the much more defined, filamentary layer we were flying through. And in some places, there appears to be perhaps two layers of the filamentary stuff.
Then again, depending on where you look in the picture, it’s not always that clear. Ah well :-)
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Exquisite texture in this cirrus, Mark.
Looks like overlapping layers, maybe at different heights…? -
Mark McCaughrean says:
Err, a sketchy photo, Sharon? Sketchy as in “not very good”, or sketchy as in “not really a photo”, or sketchy as in “converted from a photo into a sketch”? :-)
I promise you, it’s a real photo, just contrast-enhanced to bring out the details …
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Thanks very much, Bryan; greatly appreciated. The shot sort of made itself, although I did have to scoot down the beach and anticipate the lady’s alignment with the Sun. I tried twice, and luckily the second was just about perfect. Anyway, glad you liked it :-)
WOW!!!! One of the BEST Pics I’ve seen in quite some time…. Very, Very Impressive, Mark.