The cottony agglomerations that flood the sky do not always have the same constitution; You might be surprised to discover that . But in addition to their classification by morphology, there are also them by seasons, such as the ethereal noctilucent clouds that appear during the summer. The time is approaching when they can be seen most in the celestial dome, although there are those who have already begun to observe them on the horizon.
noctilucent clouds
We are used to looking for clouds when there is a greater amount of sunlight, since normally the sun’s rays tend to pass through them like needles and illuminate them in a way that contrasts with the sky blue of the atmosphere. Another time to chase clouds is during storms, when they rise to warn that they will drain a large amount of water over our heads.
Very There is rarely the opportunity to observe cloud clusters during twilight and that’s the reason why they are special. Its name says it all and translated from Latin, noctilucent means ‘clouds that shine in the night’, the best time to see them rise far beyond the average height of a conventional cloud.
Noctilucent clouds (NLC) are the highest, driest, coldest and rarest on the planet. These bright formations that rise beyond the twilight appear in the mesosphere, which is the layer of the Earth that rises above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere. This turns them into the highest altitude cloudsare formed where the invisible boundary between the atmosphere and outer space known as , approximately 100 kilometers above the planet’s surfaceaccording to .
Unlike other clouds, noctilucent or space clouds do not appear as an agglomeration of cotton, but as a set of ethereal lines that extend towards the horizon, which is due to the way they are constructed. NLCs occur when The vapor freezes into ice crystals that then adhere to the dust and particles left in their wake by the meteorites., and that incidentally fall into the atmosphere. The optics work their magic and cause the crystals to break down the light that still reaches them, so that from our perspective they shine like nocturnal rainbows.
When is noctilucent cloud season?
From the northern hemisphere, the best time to see noctilucent clouds is during the summer, on days close to the solstice. From the end of June to the end of July, Ideal conditions are produced for the rarest and highest clouds to appear in the atmosphere.
Look for them a few hours after sunset and before sunrise at about 50 to 70 degrees north latitude. You will need a clear view to the north, as they usually appear not at the zenith, but on the horizon. To the naked eye they are beautiful and in fact this is the best way to delight in noctilucent clouds, but if you have a pair of powerful binoculars you will be able to see up close the structure of one of the most elusive and impressive views of the sky .