This page was last amended on 1st August, 2010.
Noctilucent clouds, August 2010
Photograph: Martin Humphries
Noctilucent clouds are bright silvery blue “clouds”, truly “night glowing” low on the N horizon. They do not appear every night, but if the sky is clear look just above the N horizon an hour or so after Sunset and later do look for these beautiful and delicate electric-blue strands of light.
They are not clouds in the everyday meaning of the word, but are caused by tiny ice crystals much higher in the atmosphere. They are thought to be at their most prolific at times of low sun-spot activity, so as we are still more-or-less experiencing that at the moment, this and next summer should have been be very productive for observation.
However
there appears to have been little or no NLC visible from N Worcestershire in June,
nor in July. A scan of the Internet seems
to show that that is much the case in other areas of the UK. Although noctilucent clouds
are normally at their best in June and July, it’s
possible, but rare, to see them in May and August. So as it doesn’t cost
anything to try, in desperation this year look for these “electric blue”
glowing wisps of light again this month low in the northern sky about an hour or
so after Sunset, and you just might be lucky.