Today's Image

See the horse in this lightning?

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Eleanor Imster

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Deborah Byrd

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September 10, 2016

Image via Richard Hasbrouck — Lightning horse via Richard Hasbrouck.

Richard Hasbrouck in Truchas, New Mexico sent in several images in response to our article on pareidolia: seeing things that aren’t there. Richard wrote:

Shooting lightning by letting the shutter stay open for a relatively long time, then reopening it right away makes it possible to record the very short duration (a few hundred milliseconds) lightning flash. One has no idea what was captured until viewing it on the computer monitor.

This one was a surprise, looking like horse rearing up.

Camera pointed toward area of most activity. Low ISO and small aperture permitted 30-second exposures in sunset’s moderately low light conditions.

Thanks, Richard!

Another example of pareidolia from Richard Hasbrouck. He wrote: “Here at 8,100 feet in northern New Mexico spectacular sunsets are the norm. This one caught my attention; the dark cloud looks like a creature with a long tail and open mouth.”

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September 10, 2016

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Eleanor Imster

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About the Author:

Eleanor Imster has helped write and edit EarthSky since 1995. She was an integral part of the award-winning EarthSky radio series almost since it began until it ended in 2013. She and her husband live in Tennessee, where they enjoy guitar playing and singing. They have 2 grown sons.

Deborah Byrd

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About the Author:

Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.