Noctilucent clouds (NLC's), also known as polar mesospheric clouds, are bright cloudlike atmospheric phenomena visible in a deep twilight. The name means roughly "night shining" in Latin. They are most commonly observed in the summer months at latitudes between 50^o and 70^o north and south of the equator. They are the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere, located in the mesosphere at altitudes of around 75 ~ 85 km, and are visible only when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon while the ground and lower layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth's shadow; otherwise they are too faint to be seen. Noctilucent clouds are a not fully understood meteorological phenomenon. Clouds generally are not able to reach such high altitudes, especially under such thin air pressures.


Its currently Noctilucent season in the UK and we will be publishing forecasts, observations and photos/ If you would like to know more about this rare and interesting phenomina, then check out forum posts.


Full details available at WikipediaNoctilucent cloud - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia