“Night-shining” clouds form at high altitudes in late spring and early summer.
Published Jun 25, 2012
Night-shining clouds high in the atmosphere over the southern polar region appear in shades of blue and orange in this astronaut photo from January 30, 2010.
Published Feb 22, 2010
In June 2007, the Space Shuttle crew visiting the International Space Station (ISS) observed spectacular polar mesospheric clouds over north-central Asia. TThe red-to-dark region at the bottom of the image is the dense part of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Published Aug 13, 2007
Polar mesospheric clouds (also known as noctilucent, or “night-shining” clouds) are transient, upper atmospheric phenomena that are usually observed in the summer months at high latitudes (greater than 50 degrees) of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They appear bright and cloudlike while in deep twilight. They are illuminated by sunlight when the lower layers of the atmosphere are in the darkness of Earth’s shadow.
Published Aug 4, 2008
Normally seen only at twilight, polar mesospheric clouds are illuminated by “sunrise” in this astronaut photo from June 16, 2010.
Published Jul 5, 2010
The rare night-shining clouds seen in this photo are both forming more frequently and becoming brighter, trends that point to changes in the atmosphere linked to greenhouse gases.
Published Jan 27, 2011
Some astronauts say these wispy, iridescent clouds are the most beautiful phenomena they see from orbit.
Published Aug 20, 2013
PMCs have become brighter and thicker and have appeared farther south in recent years.
Published Sep 15, 2014
An astronaut on the ISS caught a glimpse of a sliver of the setting Moon and some clouds that shine at night.
Published Aug 10, 2003
High-altitude night-shining clouds form and dissipate on a daily cycle revealed in this series of images made from data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA’s Aura satellite.
Published Jan 28, 2011
