Nasa spots fluffy pet cloud over South Island

An image from a Nasa satellite released this week shows the cloud formation known as the Taieri Pet on a clear day earlier this month.

The Macraes mine is to the top right of the cloud and Middlemarch is below it.

The elongated lenticular cloud, which sometimes appears pillow-like, is a common feature in the skies near Middlemarch.

Strong winds from the northwest pour over the steep-sided, flat-topped Rock and Pillar Range, which runs almost perpendicular to those prevailing winds.

As the cloud forms on the crest of this wave, it remains almost stationary in the sky and is shaped by the strong winds blowing through it.

It is understood it has been called the Taieri Pet for more than 100 years by locals, who feel it is their own pet cloud because it only appears in their area.