New Zealand ’s " favored swarm " has of late been espy from high above Earth after returning to its preferred spot where it ’s been seen sentence and time again for decades .
Known locally as the “ Taieri Pet , ” the sausage - shaped swarm has continually formed over this part of Otago ’s mass on the South Island .
One of the first issue mentions of the cloud appear in 1896 in the newspaperOtago Witness . Another notable coming into court was captured in ablack and white photographby an aircraft in May 1951 .
Aerial view of Strath Taieri, near Middlemarch, showing the cloud formation known as the Taieri Pet, taken May 1951.Image credit:Whites Aviation Ltd/National Library Wellington(CC BY 4.0)
In its latest reaching , the pet swarm was distinguish over 700 kilometers ( 434 miles ) above Earth ’s surface by the Landsat 8 artificial satellite on September 7 , 2024 .
“ The Taieri Pet is a common feature article set up in the skies near Middlemarch , Otago , ” John Law , a meteorologist at New Zealand ’s MetService , toldNASA Earth Observatory .
The Taieri Pet is an example of a lenticular cloud that frame in the troposphere when wind chance a mountain , bombastic edifice , or any other insurmountable structure . In the case of the Taieri Pet , the topographic blockade is the Rock and Pillar Range in Otago , which runs perpendicular to strong wind from the northwestern United States .
The tall mountains block the flow of air , causing the farting to travel up and over the roadblock , make a wave . At the tip of the wave where the humid air ascend and falls , its water vapor condenses into clouds . The cloud stay fixed in home because the flow of air constantly replenishes it with moisture .
The flossy cloud becomes carved by the unattackable jazz , give it a typical , smooth coming into court .
“ As the cloud phase on the crest of this undulation , it remains almost stationary in the sky and is shaped by the strong winds blowing through it , ” Law explained .
They can also forge in a stacked arrangement , a moment like a pile of dinner plates . Under the right lighting condition , such as when the sun is low on the horizon , they may even reflect iridescent colors due to the diffraction of Christ Within .
Lenticular cloudsare occasionally err for UFOs or flying saucer in the sky – and it ’s not hard to see why .
While they may not be evidence of an incoming alien intrusion , lenticular clouds do have the potential drop to do problems . pilot of powered aircraft be given to quash fly near them because they ’re often accompanied by turbulency . Conversely , glider pilot might actively seek them out because they signal that air is rising around them .
