Contrails Into the Wild Blue Yonder – My Shot of the Day

I took this rather bizarre contrails shot above Taos, New Mexico just after sunset.

The sun had already set but this cloud in the eastern sky above the Sangre de Cristo Mountains was still lit up by the sun hanging just beyond the horizon. The jet passed through a bank of clouds leaving a contrails in its wake that created a shadow on the cloud behind it.

Contrails or vapor trails are long thin artificial clouds that sometimes form behind aircraft. Their formation is most often triggered by the water vapour in the exhaust of aircraft engines, but can also be triggered by the changes in air pressure in wingtip vortices or in the air over the entire wing surface.  Like all clouds, contrails are made of water, in the form of a suspension of billions of liquid droplets or ice crystals.

Depending on the temperature and humidity at the altitude the contrail forms, they may be visible for only a few seconds or minutes. Persistent contrails are thought to have a significant effect on global climate.

I used my 70-300 mm telephoto on a tripod to get the shot.

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