Mt. Rainier

Usually it's the clouds that cast a shadow on the ground, not the other way around.
Wednesday morning, Seattle area residents were treated to this spectacular sunrise as the first rays of light hit Mount Rainier before reaching the sky. The cloud cover provided the perfect canvas for Rainier's shadow, making it almost seem like a smoking volcano.

It only happens when the sun rises farther to the south as we head toward the winter solstice and has to be in the exact position to where Rainier blocks the first rays of morning light.

Conditions have to be just perfect for this sight to even occur.

NASA

Oct 2, 1011
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has been providing some stunning images of the sun since early 2010, but recently it began releasing daily images of the sun that will blow your mind.

The $865 million project equipped the semi-autonomous SDO craft to orbit the sun for five years, sending back advanced data about the life-giving star. Among the data retrieved are these photos images, which picture the light thrown off by the star at wavelengths not typically visible to the human eye.
These x-ray and ultraviolet images give a unique perspective and help scientists understand the internal motion of the giant ball of burning gas.
NASA has begun releasing daily images of the sun, which you can check out in the slideshow below, or here on NASA's website.
In addition, the NASA site also has a number of 48-hour timelapse videos of the star, that you can check out for yourself.