Colored stratospheric clouds just peeping from behind the clouds

Winter has just begun, but celestial observers in the Arctic circle have already witnessed several bright stratospheric clouds, which also spread to lower latitudes.

Saturday, December 23, colored clouds, reminiscent of the Northern lights appeared through the crack in the usual rain clouds over the city of Elgin (Scotland), 10 degrees below the Arctic circle.

The next night, 24 December, observed from Riga (Latvia). As Scots, they were located 10 degrees below the Arctic circle. "Stratospheric clouds of type I rarely can be seen in these latitudes. The last time they were observed in Latvia 7 years ago," said they noticed a local resident Ivo Ginsbergs.

Polar stratospheric clouds are a sign of extremely low temperatures in the stratosphere. For the formation of type II requires a temperature of about -85 ºC. Stratosphere land almost any desert on Earth. Only when the air becomes very cold, the water molecules join to form ice crystals. High-altitude sunlight, piercing the particles, creates the characteristic bright iridescent colors.

In recent years photographers have reported that polar stratospheric clouds appear sooner and spread over a larger range of latitudes.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»