Noctilucent clouds

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

There are fewer of them today than yesterday, and the main front has shifted north than usual.

On this day (almost :)) a year ago, I started this topic :)

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Montana »

That's fab Ivan :hamster: we had reports here in the UK last night again too. I am under cursed cloud and I am fast asleep, I need to get my alarm going again :)

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

Today they reappeared.
There are more of them than yesterday. By the way, yesterday, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get a photo, because there were very few of them and they were mostly near the horizon and almost merged with the bright sky.
It's a pity that there is no DSLR at hand, because my camera on the phone does not cope well.
A small evolution in 30 minutes.

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Montana »

Very nice indeed Ivan :hamster: :hamster: :hamster: what latitude are you? I need to look on a map. I am at 53N and had no luck yet this year, mainly due to weather and falling asleep :)

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

Thank you, Alexandra!

I'm at 57.6N. My daughter falls asleep for a very long time, so I have time :)
These photos were taken from 01 to 01:30 at night. At this time of the year, the nights are short and bright. Therefore, the contrast in the photo is weak.

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

Hi all!
Although most likely hello Alexandra :bow

Today NCLs again pleased me with their appearance. This season, they are located quite far from me and are visible near the horizon, so they have low contrast.
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But today I was a little more lucky, one cloud formed in a westerly direction and was located closer than the others.
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Even today I observed quite interesting clouds, which at my own peril and risk I identified as Cirrus Radiatus.
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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Montana »

:hamster: :hamster: :hamster: superb! the NCL looks like the Nexus in Star Trek - Generations :)

The normal clouds are amazing!! Rainer is our resident cloud expert, maybe he can confirm the classification :)

:hamster:
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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

I haven't seen NCL for 3 or 4 days. They showed up again tonight. It was a wide front that stretched from west to east, it was very massive and was close to me. I took a picture from the 8th floor, and most of it didn't get into the frame because of the house on the right. I was shooting on a DSLR and used a shutter speed of about 2 seconds.

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by MapleRidge »

This latest shot is great Ivan...thanks for sharing your views :bow

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Montana »

:hamster: :hamster: :hamster: fabulous!!!

So much cloud here it is frustrating :(

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

Hi, everybody,
NCL is much smaller today.

Ivan
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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Montana »

Lovely shot!!

I looked last night around 2am but it was thick cloud again, it was clear when I went to bed :( no luck this year at all.

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

Hi, everybody,
Photo from July 10. It was cloudy tonight and I couldn't take a photo.

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Noctilucent clouds are rare at my latitude of 35 degrees north. I do remember seeing them a couple of times back in the 1980s. I remember seeing them in the winter.

I do wonder if I have confused them for high thin cirrus clouds in the years since. They do look similar but yet different.


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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Montana »

You seem to be in the perfect place Ivan, that's another great shot :hamster: do you find them more easy to see in the evening or early morning? I've never seen them in the evening, only early morning before dawn. However, this year nothing at all as it is permanently cloudy ;)

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

Hello Alexandra and James,
Thanks for watching. My latitude of 57.6 is considered one of the best for NCL observations. They are being watched by enthusiasts from the local university. And the rest of the people haven't even heard what it is :)
DeepSolar64 wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 11:02 pm Noctilucent clouds are rare at my latitude of 35 degrees north. I do remember seeing them a couple of times back in the 1980s. I remember seeing them in the winter.

I do wonder if I have confused them for high thin cirrus clouds in the years since. They do look similar but yet different.
James, yes, I know that the further south, the more difficult it is to observe NCL, and from a certain latitude they do not meet at all. You can confuse them with high thin cirrus clouds due to inexperience, but if there are both NCL and cirrus clouds in the sky, then you immediately understand the huge difference. NCL literally glow, while other clouds are much darker.

Montana wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 9:14 am You seem to be in the perfect place Ivan, that's another great shot :hamster: do you find them more easy to see in the evening or early morning? I've never seen them in the evening, only early morning before dawn. However, this year nothing at all as it is permanently cloudy ;)

Alexandra
Alexandra, more often I see them in the evening, the interval of their visibility is about two or three hours, then they disappear or lose a lot of contrast. In the morning I saw rather a hint of NCL, it's rather a light barely perceptible fabric. I hope the weather will allow you to see them soon.



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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by DeepSolar64 »

That’s what I remember. The sky was almost dark but these thin cirruslike clouds glowed a bright blue color.


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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

DeepSolar64 wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 2:52 pm That’s what I remember. The sky was almost dark but these thin cirruslike clouds glowed a bright blue color.
It was them, James.

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

Hi, everybody,

Yesterday we spent the evening enjoying NCL. I've seen quite a lot of them, but what happened yesterday is just amazing!
A huge front of dense, textured, shining clouds hung over us. I was delighted, and although the phone's camera is a pathetic device for transmitting this riot of semitones, and for lack of a DSLR, I tried to make good shots.
I hope you enjoy it.

Image2022-07-15_22:30_NCL by Ivan Sirotin, on Flickr

Image15.07.22_NCL_22:51 by Ivan Sirotin, on Flickr

Image2022-07-16_10-24-44 by Ivan Sirotin, on Flickr

Image15.07.22_22:57_NCL by Ivan Sirotin, on Flickr

Image15.07.22_22:58_NCL by Ivan Sirotin, on Flickr

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Ivan,
In recent years the iPhones camera has gotten better and better. While it won’t match a good DSLR or mirrorless camera it’s quite capable even in low light. I’ve successfully done constellation photography with mine and it does well on clouds too. My new iPhone 13 Pro Max even has a macro mode!

Other companies like Samsung, Google and Motorola have also really upped their camera tech in recent years.

Has the embargoes on Russia made new iPhones hard to get?

Nice pics too!!

James


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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

Thank you, James

You can buy iPhones from us, although Apple has officially closed its stores. The price in rubles for the iPhone 13 ProMax is the same as for the Lunt50. But Lunt does not buy :(I had an iPhone 4, I know that these are very good devices, but expensive. I use Samsung 32.

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Montana »

WOW!! these are your best display and images so far, you are so lucky!! I wish I could have been there to see them too :hamster:

Still cloudy here every night, it is even worse than last year :( we are expecting a heatwave over the next few days, they say up to 41 degrees :shock: considering that here in Manchester the temperature has never been above 32 degrees since records began this is quite disturbing. Considering our wildlife etc have never experienced this ever and no one has air conditioning it is going to be interesting how this pans out. Climate change? no one seems to believe in that, and is moaning about how we can have cheaper petrol :(

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by MapleRidge »

Hi Ivan...

The latest pics look terrific, you certainly have a prime location to view from!

Alexandra, I see on the news that the UK has record heat and more on the way...I don't suppose air conditioning in homes/workplaces is as common as here in Canada/US?

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Montana »

No Brian, not at all. We have had official warnings from work to not use the tissue culture labs at work if possible. The labs have passive air conditioning, an environmental system using flow of air through the roof. The thermal loading of machines and having to wear lab coats etc would be horrendous. This has never happened in all of my career. We have had hot summers and inside gets to 37 degrees when outside is 29-30. But for outside to be 41 degrees!! I'm working from home anyway at the moment as I can't go in due to having the strongest lateral flow line ever today (Covid-19), it was 3x stronger than the control :lol:

With climate change we will all be migrating northwards Ivan :)

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

new 2023 ncl season!

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Ivan,
Does that mean winter is coming?

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

DeepSolar64 wrote: Sun Jul 09, 2023 11:37 pm Ivan,
Does that mean winter is coming?

James
James, in our latitudes they usually appear in July. I don't think they are connected with winter.

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Ivan wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 5:24 am
DeepSolar64 wrote: Sun Jul 09, 2023 11:37 pm Ivan,
Does that mean winter is coming?

James
James, in our latitudes they usually appear in July. I don't think they are connected with winter.

Ivan

That's a good thing. I am sure you do not want to be reminded of the coming cold.


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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Montana »

Superb!!! :hamster: :hamster: :hamster:

I've not seen any this year, although I've not been actively looking too hard either. I think they will become infrequent during solar maximum.

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Re: Noctilucent clouds

Post by Ivan »

Montana wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 7:13 am Superb!!! :hamster: :hamster: :hamster:

I've not seen any this year, although I've not been actively looking too hard either. I think they will become infrequent during solar maximum.

Alexandra
Thank you Alexandra! I think I will have the opportunity to confirm or refute your hypothesis, at the average amateur level of course. I've been watching ncl for the past week, but because of the clouds, I haven't taken any pictures other than these two. That night they were there too, I saw them in a tiny gap between the clouds.

Ivan


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