Posted on 07/20/2011 2:56:15 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Sometimes it's night on the ground but day in the air. As the Earth rotates to eclipse the Sun, sunset rises up from the ground. Therefore, at sunset on the ground, sunlight still shines on clouds above. Under usual circumstances, a pretty sunset might be visible, but unusual noctilucent clouds float so high up they can be seen well after dark. Normally too dim to be seen, they may become visible at sunset during late summer when illuminated by sunlight from below. Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds known and thought to be part of polar mesospheric clouds. Pictured above earlier this month, a network of noctilucent clouds cast an eerie white glow after dusk, above the the city of Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada. Much about noctilucent clouds has been discovered only over the past few years, while how they form and evolve remains a topic of active research.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: Greg Scratchley (RASC Edmonton)]
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I was flying over Khazakstan/Russia night before last and saw them. They were the most impressive I have seen and I saw them a few years ago flying over the North Atlantic.
How do you tell that they are notilucent clouds and not regular clouds?
They shine like the ones in the picture in this article and they are in the northern sky, well above our altitude. They are wispy as in the pic and they do not seem to move in the windscreen as a regular cloud formation would as you fly along. I had them in view for hours.
Beautiful, and now I know what they’re called!
Oh you can tell they are noctilucents. They are up about 50 miles which is far higher than the highest convection clouds go. Well before sunrise they’ll show up and have this amazing glow to them. I saw them over Seattle a couple of years ago. Pretty kewl!
So this is what I saw in Anchorage, AK, a few years ago...
Cool !
An impressive array. I’ve seen noctilucent clouds several times, but never such a huge expanse. They’re amazing and gorgeous.
Thanks for the re-post.
The image was taken in the early hours of July 2nd, 2011 (MST). The display started at 11pm on the 1st, ended after 1:30am on the 2nd.
This image is one of the frames from a timelapse video that can be found at: http://vimeo.com/25918041
The video (when you see the ‘short’ animation of frames) easily shows the ‘wispy’ and unusual movement of the NLC clouds, which are far above the ground winds. They are truly a treat to see!
If you have any questions, please email or visit me on Google+ as I’m being assailed with questions, and would like to be able to answer as many as possible. :)
Regards,
Greg
They were visible over Anchorage the same night you saw them over Russia.
Rare sight. You have seen them a couple of times...very lucky.
Thanks Greg, and welcome to FreeRepublic.
Everyone on the APoD list, how about a warm welcome — the photographer himself has joined us right-wing loonies.
Oh, sorry, only some of us are only right-wing, some are just loonies, only a few of us are right-wing loonies.
I’m a right wing/libertarian oriented loonie, which guarantees that I’ll be hated by pretty much everybody much of the time. lol
I do enjoy the flames though. Keeps me warm at night.
Howdy! Welcome. Beautiful pic. I love sky and space pics. :-)
ROFL. heh heh :-)
Go Av's!
A great big welcome to you, Greg. It’s really nice to have you as a member of the group, and to look forward to seeing your work.
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