Astronomy · Observing Logs · Tag · noctilucent clouds

The following are all the observing reports tagged with the term noctilucent clouds displayed with the latest report first. If the report contains a direct reference to the tag then that part of the report will be displayed, otherwise only the report heading details will be present and you should click on the link to view the full report.

With a clear sky outside, and the twilight finally fading I immediately noticed distinct NLCs in the northwest and knew it was going to be something special. This was definitely a display worth seeing and so, despite just having returned from the pub, I grabbed my camera, tripod and a few layers of clothing and rushed outside to reach farmland and a clear northern horizon as quickly as possible. The first couple of fields I tried weren't a success as there was the distinctive sound of large animals close by - an unnerving sound in the dark - but I soon found a stile leading to a nicely deserted field where I was able to set up my camera and capture the glorious sight of this, the brightest display I've personally witnessed so far in 2007. As can be seen on the following panorama the display was extensive with the most interesting region low in the north to the east of the bright star Capella. Here whirls of bright white and electric blue cloud had been spun across the sky and, as I later walked back down the road to home, these had developed into a bright arc of material which, as the sun moved eastward to begin a new day, were being illuminated lower and lower in the sky.

It was an incredible night, made more so because of the appalling weather we have had recently.

Earlier in the day Andy C and myself had decided it looked like being a good night for Noctilucent Clouds and much to our surprise we turned out to be correct. By the time I arrived at our chosen observing spot at Aidan's College at around 00:30 BST the display was at its height. We estimated a brightness of around 4 and definite structure throughout the display that extended upwards to around 20 degrees and covered about 60 degrees of sky in a North to North Westerly direction with the brightest region concentrated around and below the bright star Capella in Auriga.

After we left Aidan's at around 01:30 I went on a brief tour around Durham, getting some beautiful views down by the river, and then up above the city. By this time (around 02:30) the display had visibly diminished to a veil type but with slight patches of the earlier structure still visible high up.

It was a lovely night and the first spectacular display I've seen this season.