Noctilucent Clouds

soundhertz

18th June 2009 - 05:55 PM

QUOTE

"Breathtaking. A crackerjack display. The best in years!" These are a few of the things veteran observers are saying about the ongoing "noctilucent storm" over Europe. The electric-blue clouds have been sighted from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Poland, Russia and the British Isles. On June 16th, photographer Bryan Tobias was flying across the North Atlantic at 36,000 feet when he looked out the window and saw this:

"It was absolutely beautiful!" says Tobias. "We were a few hundred miles south of Greenland at the time of the display. The flight crew had no idea what the phenomenon was, but I was able to explain. No one could sleep because the clouds were so beautiful."

This could be the beginning of a very busy summer for noctilucent clouds (NLCs). For reasons no one fully understands, NLCs tend to be most active during years of solar minimum. 2009 is such a year. The sun is in the pits of the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century, and many researchers expect a banner season for these mysterious clouds.

You can see some stunning photos at http://spaceweather.com. NLC's are fun not only because of their beauty, but because we still don't know exactly why they're there

Also, there is now a second 'Great red Spot' on Jupiter, which has formed very quickly to nearly rival the original in size. This story is also in today's link. After this day though you'll have to do an archive search.

Michael J

18th June 2009 - 09:29 PM

I don't think i've ever seen clouds like that, thanks for the post

!

Also, do they know what caused this 2nd red spot to occur?

Meem

19th June 2009 - 12:04 AM

Awesome

, maybe they are vibrating strings!

soundhertz

19th June 2009 - 12:08 AM

Not yet; there's little data. But some will be coming. As always, especially in science and parenting, patience is a virtue, as precious as data!

magpies

19th June 2009 - 01:49 AM

That cloud picture quality is pretty low hard to tell...

As for Jupitor hasn't that storm always been around?

soundhertz

20th June 2009 - 04:46 AM

The Great Red Spot has been around for a long time, but the new spot is only 9 years old. Most Jovian storms are white, and this originally was a pool of white storms, but it is slowly turning red. Scientists want to find out if it is acquiring characteristics of the Red Spot, and other data. It seems to keep growing.

Heroin

22nd June 2009 - 12:29 PM

something to really marvel at. take your time.

soundhertz

15th July 2009 - 12:24 AM

From http://www.spaceweather.com/

QUOTE

NLCs INVADE THE USA: So far in 2009, noctilucent clouds (NLCs) have been seen mainly over Europe and parts of Canada, but now they are beginning to invade the continental USA. "We had a pretty good dispay in Grass Valley, Oregon, last night," reports amateur astronomer Dan Earl. "I've been looking for NLCs for the past couple of years and finally they arrived!" He took these pictures using a Canon 40D. US sky watchers should be alert for electric blue.

NOCTILUCENT STORM: For the second day in a row, a major display of noctilucent clouds is taking place over Europe. The electric-blue clouds are so bright, you can see them while looking at the ground. "Here they are reflected from a puddle," offers photographer Douglas Cooper of Stirling, Scotland. Of course, the sky is still best. "I have never seen such bright, large and detailed noctilucent clouds," says Piotr Majewski, who sends this picture from Torun, Poland (the town of Copernicus): User posted image: User posted image

User posted image: User posted image (the clouds reflected by a puddle)
User posted image: User posted image this is from Oregon.

Posters in the Pacific Northwest especially should be on the lookout.

QUOTE (->

QUOTE

NLCs INVADE THE USA: So far in 2009, noctilucent clouds (NLCs) have been seen mainly over Europe and parts of Canada, but now they are beginning to invade the continental USA. "We had a pretty good dispay in Grass Valley, Oregon, last night," reports amateur astronomer Dan Earl. "I've been looking for NLCs for the past couple of years and finally they arrived!" He took these pictures using a Canon 40D. US sky watchers should be alert for electric blue.

NOCTILUCENT STORM: For the second day in a row, a major display of noctilucent clouds is taking place over Europe. The electric-blue clouds are so bright, you can see them while looking at the ground. "Here they are reflected from a puddle," offers photographer Douglas Cooper of Stirling, Scotland. Of course, the sky is still best. "I have never seen such bright, large and detailed noctilucent clouds," says Piotr Majewski, who sends this picture from Torun, Poland (the town of Copernicus): User posted image: User posted image

User posted image: User posted image (the clouds reflected by a puddle)
User posted image: User posted image this is from Oregon.

Posters in the Pacific Northwest especially should be on the lookout.Observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the Sun has dipped 6o to 16o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you've probably spotted a noctilucent cloud. Although noctilucent clouds appear most often at arctic latitudes, they have been sighted in recent years as far south as Colorado, Utah and Virginia. NLCs are seasonal, appearing most often in late spring and summer. In the northern hemisphere, the best time to look would be between mid-May and the end of August