NLC Photo gallery: Summer 2008
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Summer 2008
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  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. See also 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
 
  Photographer, Location Images Comments


Rick Klawitter,
Port Angeles, WA, USA
Jul. 8, 2008
#1, #2, more

These were seen this morning, 4:30 PST. Last night we saw a dimmer display after sunset.


Brian Whittaker,
In the heart of England near Birmingham. (N52)
Jul. 4, 2008
#1, #2, #3, more

Thanks to the stories in SpaceWeather.com, I decided to stay up all night watching late night TV! To my surprize, at early twilight, the sky was alive with wonderful Noctilucent Clouds. Thanks SpaceWeather!


D.J. Duerr,
Pinedale, Wyoming USA
Jul. 3, 2008
#1

This picture was taken on 7/3/08 looking to the WNW from Pinedale WY USA -- the clouds are low on the horizon and poor image quality but definitely NL clouds. Taken with Sony DSC-F707, 10 sec exposure (F2.0, ISO 100), regrettably without a steady platform.


Bob King,
Duluth, Minnesota, USA
Jul. 6, 2008
#1, #2, #3, more

I went out last night to photograph the moon with Saturn, Mars and Regulus. In this photo, a car was traveling away from me, and the red tail lights give the impression of the driver stopping to take in the beautiful twilight scene. One should always break for planetary alignments! While out, I noticed what I thought at first were cirrus clouds low in the north in an otherwise clear sky. As the night deepened, the clouds remained nearly in place and glowed with a pale blue, one of the telltale signs of noctilucent clouds. What a bonus! A conjunction and for me, a rare sighting of noctilucent clouds on the same night. The textures were amazing. The small green spots in the bottom part of the cloud photo are fireflies. The mosquitos didn't record, but oh boy, they were there too.


Marek Nikodem,
Szubin, Poland
Jul. 9, 2008
#1, #2, more

Noctilucent clouds show continue ! I observed NLCs last night. After a turbulent day with violent thunderstorms and showers, the skies not cleared and from past experience. I looked about 23 local time trough my skylook I see low above horizont noctilucent clouds. Compared to the few and bright NLCs from Jun 26, these are mellow and faint. It is the best of the seasons NLCs.

Photo details: exp. 5-8 sec, iso 400-800, Nikon D50 camera


Pierre Martin,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Jul. 6, 2008
#1

While fellow amateur astronomer Joe Silverman and I were setting up our tents and telescopes at a dark sky site (just west of Ottawa, Ontario) on Sunday evening, we were treated to a beautiful display of NLCs!!! After all these years, this is my first definite sighting of these rare clouds from 45 degrees latitude. I was very surprised and pleased to see them along the treeline near the north horizon!! Needless to say, I rushed for my cameras and took this photo with my 30D (20 sec exposure, ISO 200 with the 35mm lens at f/4.0). I'm sure that the excellent sky transparency that we were fortunate to have on this night was helpful. These delicate wisps floating almost at the edge of space were nicely visible, and would quickly change their shapes.

more images (July 9): from Michal Laszczynski of Gdynia, Poland; from Murray Paulson of St. Albert, Alberta Canada

more images (July 8): from Oleg Pomogaev of Moscow, Russia

more images (July 7): from Oleg Pomogaev of Moscow, Russia; from Norm Jones of Petawawa, Ontario, Canada;

more images (July 6): from Patrick Boomer of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

more images (July 4): from Maurice Gavin of London, England; from Ian Saunders of Ayr, Scotland, UK

more images (July 3): from Glenda Meehan of Port Leyden, New York;

more images (July 2): from Anthony of Besançon, Doubs, France;

 

Northern Lights Photo Gallery: A solar wind stream hit Earth on May 20th causing a mild geomagnetic storm and Northern Lights around the Arctic Circle. The auroras of May 21st were so bright, they were visible in the twilight blue sky above Nunavik, Quebec.

"The sky is blue at 1 o'clock in the morning when I took these pictures," says photographer Sylvain Serre. "At our latitude at this time of year, it is blue all night long--and it's never a dark blue. So, at 1 o'clock in the morning, the sky is bright and I can see only a few stars."

In spite of this extra glare, Serre was able to see the auroras. "I saw them with my unaided eyes. The clouds made it difficult, but the clouds were moving slowly while the northern lights were moving faster." This, plus the green color of the auroras, made it possible to sort things out.