Normally seen only at twilight, polar mesospheric clouds are illuminated by “sunrise” in this astronaut photo from June 16, 2010.
Published Jul 5, 2010
“Night-shining” clouds form at high altitudes in late spring and early summer.
Published Jun 25, 2012
Noctilucent or “night shining” clouds form near the boundary of the mesosphere and thermosphere.
Published Jan 21, 2013
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
Some astronauts say these wispy, iridescent clouds are the most beautiful phenomena they see from orbit.
Published Aug 20, 2013
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
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
Noctilucent clouds float high enough in the atmosphere to capture a little bit of stray sunlight even after the Sun has set below them.
Published Dec 2, 2016
As spring turns to summer in the northern hemisphere, unusual streaks of clouds form high in the atmosphere around sunset.
Published Jun 27, 2019
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
alert message
