11 Jul 2010

Noctilucent Cloud storm

Recent nights have been good for these high altitude night-time visible mesospheric clouds which return strong microwave echoes, so should be good for 10GHz super-DX. See www.spaceweather.com
NOCTILUCENT STORM: Last night, sky watchers in Europe witnessed the finest display of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) so far this year. Electric-blue tendrils spread as far south as France:"I could see the NLCs from my window," says photographer Alexandre Croisier of Brittany, France. "So I rushed down to the beach to take this picture--a 6 second exposure with my Canon 350D.  

In England, the same display stretched from horizon to horizon. "There was quite a lot of detail visible, including swirls and tiger stripes," reports Mark Jones of Leamington Spa, UK. Even city lights did not overwhelm the NLCs. "I had no trouble seeing them from southwest London," says onlooker Maurice Gavin.
July is often the best month of the year to see these mysterious clouds. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for electric blue in the nights ahead.

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