Noctilucent Clouds
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Noctilucent Clouds
For those of you operating night flights this week and want something new to look at on the way home, try this:
For the last few nights I have been able to see a fairly rare phenomenon called noctilucent cloud, which I couldn’t find in my dusty old ATPL books but it did turn up in an internet search. You should look towards the day/night line after sunset and you may see some wispy white clouds even when it is dark enough to see the stars. They are apparently made of ice crystals and form at an altitude of 85km in the midsummer months near the polar regions but other than that we don’t know much about them.
I have put a photo of it at http://www.chris.brady.ukgateway.net/noctilucent.htm together with a link for more info from the boffins for those who are interested.
Has anybody else seen any other unusual or interesting sights at night? – Other than the usual UFO’s, Santa & reindeers and of course Elvis !
For the last few nights I have been able to see a fairly rare phenomenon called noctilucent cloud, which I couldn’t find in my dusty old ATPL books but it did turn up in an internet search. You should look towards the day/night line after sunset and you may see some wispy white clouds even when it is dark enough to see the stars. They are apparently made of ice crystals and form at an altitude of 85km in the midsummer months near the polar regions but other than that we don’t know much about them.
I have put a photo of it at http://www.chris.brady.ukgateway.net/noctilucent.htm together with a link for more info from the boffins for those who are interested.
Has anybody else seen any other unusual or interesting sights at night? – Other than the usual UFO’s, Santa & reindeers and of course Elvis !
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: north by north west
In early evening just after sundown , whilst flying westbound in the Southern Ocean, a Shuttle flight orbited from Nw to Se.
It must have been pitched in the vertical plane with its tiled keel forward. Perhaps it was a lower orbit or just more ionospheric activity but the net result was a glow around the craft and a brilliant plume or rooster tail streaming miles above and aft.
It lasted a matter of minutes but was extraordinary.
It must have been pitched in the vertical plane with its tiled keel forward. Perhaps it was a lower orbit or just more ionospheric activity but the net result was a glow around the craft and a brilliant plume or rooster tail streaming miles above and aft.
It lasted a matter of minutes but was extraordinary.
Gnome de PPRuNe
Joined: Jan 2002
Aviation Qualifications: Spotter
Posts: 15,197
Likes: 1,201
From: Too close to Croydon for comfort
CaptainSandL,
Is this the same phenomenom known as After Glow? I know that's attributed to ultra high cloud catching light...
Article in the Telegraph on 26th June about Weather people seeing more types of electrical discharge out of the tops of CBs...
Cheers
Treadders
Is this the same phenomenom known as After Glow? I know that's attributed to ultra high cloud catching light...
Article in the Telegraph on 26th June about Weather people seeing more types of electrical discharge out of the tops of CBs...
Cheers
Treadders
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: UK
Noctilucent Clouds are the joy of summer. Often missed by pilots, the same ones that see them blindly every summer, they are nevertheless there to be seen. Why not participate in observing them? You are not alone. There is a cordinated effort.
The "Noctilucent Cloud: Observers' Homepage" is where you should look. Their links are up to date, good and plentiful. Try:
__
http://www.nlcnet.co.uk
--------------Observing NLC is better then beer!
CaptainSandL,
No its not AfterGlow, not "Sprites" from CBs, not aurora, not rocket stuff. Simply seasonal polar clouds at about 50 miles. Too faint to see at day. Too north to see from south. Stuck in the bad weather or under populated region of high north (or far south in winter) where pilots have the BEST viewing oportunities. The viewing season is late May to early August so time is running out! Enjoy.
The "Noctilucent Cloud: Observers' Homepage" is where you should look. Their links are up to date, good and plentiful. Try:
__
http://www.nlcnet.co.uk
--------------Observing NLC is better then beer!
CaptainSandL,
No its not AfterGlow, not "Sprites" from CBs, not aurora, not rocket stuff. Simply seasonal polar clouds at about 50 miles. Too faint to see at day. Too north to see from south. Stuck in the bad weather or under populated region of high north (or far south in winter) where pilots have the BEST viewing oportunities. The viewing season is late May to early August so time is running out! Enjoy.
Last edited by NotFormallyKnown; 28th June 2003 at 01:31.
Paxing All Over The World
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 10,841
Likes: 328
From: Hertfordshire, UK.
treadigraph: Is this the same phenomenom known as After Glow?
Psychophysiological entity
Joined: Jun 2001
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 3,383
Likes: 169
From: Walton on the Naze Essex.
I know this is going off the main point, but has anything further been discovered about Sprites. I wondered years ago if the entire CB might be LASEing. The core would be a very crude laser, but with the surfeit of power available and a tube of plasma/gasses who knows.
Too mean to buy a long personal title
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,981
Likes: 13
From: UK
1000fps:
In early evening just after sundown , whilst flying westbound in the Southern Ocean, a Shuttle flight orbited from Nw to Se.
It must have been pitched in the vertical plane with its tiled keel forward. Perhaps it was a lower orbit or just more ionospheric activity but the net result was a glow around the craft and a brilliant plume or rooster tail streaming miles above and aft.
It lasted a matter of minutes but was extraordinary.
In early evening just after sundown , whilst flying westbound in the Southern Ocean, a Shuttle flight orbited from Nw to Se.
It must have been pitched in the vertical plane with its tiled keel forward. Perhaps it was a lower orbit or just more ionospheric activity but the net result was a glow around the craft and a brilliant plume or rooster tail streaming miles above and aft.
It lasted a matter of minutes but was extraordinary.
Joined: Apr 1999
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 2,642
Likes: 301
From: In front of a computer
Heck of a coincidence!
Amazing coincidence but I was just pointing these type of clouds out to my co-pilot this morning. We were approaching 20W on track Y and as the dawn broke the clouds were very clearly visible - only the second time I've seen them....
