The first season of noctilucent clouds

Around the North pole starts the season of noctilucent clouds (NLC). Last Sunday, may 17, NASA AIM fixed them with a polar orbit. And this weekend noctilucent clouds have been seen from earth. Cairo Kitsak photographed them from the settlement simuna, Estonia.

"I've seen noctilucent clouds before, but never in the beginning of the season," said the photographer. The clouds were also spotted in Helsinki, Finland, and in Jelgava, Latvia.

Noctilucent clouds — the high-altitude clouds on Earth. They are formed at the border of space, more than 80 km above the ground when the summer jets of water vapor rise into the mesosphere, where the water kristallizuetsya around the particles of meteoric smoke.

Season 2020 began ahead of schedule. The cloud detection apparatus of the AIM over the Arctic circle may 17 — the second earliest start to the season, recorded machine in 14 years. Ground observers usually see the first cloud is not until June.

In the coming evening noctilucent clouds can appear when the setting sun is more than 6° below the horizon. They glow with color electrician in the darkening twilight the sky is often filled with finely structured ruffle created by the sparse winds at the edge of space.

It is noted that the cloud may 22, could be associated with the launch of Russian rocket "Soyuz", which in that day was launched from Plesetsk spaceport and put into orbit a satellite. Water vapor in the exhaust of the rocket probably reached the mesosphere, providing the moisture required for the formation of noctilucent clouds.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»