Noctilucent Clouds Season 2019

[Arnie Pie]

2 hours ago, mushymanrob said:

nope.... i awoke at 2.45 and i could see nowt... maybe i was too late?

im also uncertain of how far up into the sky they are visible as ive yet to see a proper display. the photos dont really help... are they in a narrowish band on the horizon? in which case id need a clear view of the horizon. or do they appear higher in the sky?.. obvs not much higher, but say above rooftops that are 50 odd meters away...

My appologies Rob...On the first clearish night/morning of June I was up till Dawn expecting a good display.

We know they are up there, and at higher altitudes than normal.....The norm usually a narrow band due North...

There must be a reason for last night no show appart from the Law of Sod

I`m guessing that we were in a notch or narrowing in the mass of dust clouds ciculating the pole.

latest data available (3 days old) shows the narrowing and a distinctive notch at the top of image (looking forward to seeing todays data when released)

I hope this all makes sense

forecasted clear night tonight.......Im saying nothing

Edited June 20, 2019 by Arnie Pie

[Arnie Pie]

Just released Tuesday  18-6-2019....AIM saterlite image

Shows a big finger of blue cloud extending over the Uk at the bottom of the image

This concures with my sightings which were at the highest altitude i have ever witnessed

[mushymanrob]

34 minutes ago, Arnie Pie said:

My appologies Rob...On the first clearish night/morning of June I was up till Dawn expecting a good display.

We know they are up there, and at higher altitudes than normal.....The norm usually a narrow band due North...

There must be a reason for last night no show appart from the Law of Sod

I`m guessing that we were in a notch or narrowing in the mass of dust clouds ciculating the pole.

latest data available (3 days old) shows the narrowing and a distinctive notch at the top of image (looking forward to seeing todays data when released)

I hope this all makes sense

forecasted clear night tonight.......Im saying nothing

thanks for that... but im not going to wait up .. done that too many times before for nothing. tbh, ill be asleep by 10 in my chair, lol. my o/h works away midweek so im home alone with the doggies.

trouble is... if there was an update like there is for aurora, i would wait up.. (assuming clear skies)

[Weather-history]

With high pressure taking over and clearer skies, must be a chance to see noctilucent clouds very late this evening and certainly the lingering twilight at its peak.

[Arnie Pie]

Fingers crossed

Last nights observations were poor again with the mass of cloud due N

I have made a GIF of the latest available sat images(2 days old)...Uk at bottom

You can see Earths anti-clockwise rotation....with the cloud mass appearing to rotate clockwise as it migrates around the pole

Nasa believe this to be a 5 day transition

Any clouds circulating  around the 60 degree latitude will be veiwed as high in our Northern skies

Some of the fingers extending down from the mass are well below the 60 degree line (almost over head)

Its only a matter of time before the positions come together and we have a humdinger of a display

As for forecasting when........Spin the Wheel

Edited June 21, 2019 by Arnie Pie

[Arnie Pie]

NLCs high in the northern skies atm

[reef]

Taken just now. They look amazing tonight.

[Kevin paxton]

Fantastic display now showing northumberland.

[Hirudine]

Beautiful display tonight, never seen them so early before.

[Interitus]

29 minutes ago, reef said:

Taken just now. They look amazing tonight.

Look exactly like that from north Cheshire right now, with the same wave pattern - shows just how high up they are. They were good earlier in the week, but with the clearer maritime air that has come in today they are stunning.

[Arctic Hare]

Superb from here in Worcs. I haven't seen very many, but this display has to be the best I have seen.

[kar999]

Great display here tonight ...

 

[Weather-history]

Lovely display

 

[Southern Storm]

27 minutes ago, Christchurch storm nut said:

 

some lovely pictures in here tonight!

Mother nature sure did put on a show tonight!  Great views even on the south coast.

 

Sorry for the formatting, but I noticed this. Thread after posting in the southwest regional, and thought I would share some pictures of noctilucent clouds that were visible the evening.

1 hour ago, Christchurch storm nut said:

Decided to pop down to Mudeford quay  to enjoy this beautiful evening!  Took my camera along and was treated to the amazing display of noctilucent clouds, obviously others have posted about them already, but Wow!

 

Heope you like the pictures, also got a couple of the milky way

 

Edited June 22, 2019 by Christchurch storm nut

[Arnie Pie]

1 hour ago, Christchurch storm nut said:

some lovely pictures in here tonight!

Mother nature sure did put on a show tonight! 

I agree with ever word Mr Nut......with surely more and even better displays to come.

They started earlier than we have seen this season and lasted for a shorter time than I expected

Georgeous all the same

A few snaps and a brief time-laps

 

Edited June 22, 2019 by Arnie Pie

[mushymanrob]

i missed them...i had the audacity to sleep... lol.

[Polar Maritime]

Me to was fast off, But I will make the effort tonight. Some great photos cheers all.

[Gray-Wolf]

I have never seen such a comprehensive cover of Noctilucents as I did last night!

I think it was back in 06' that I saw my 'best ever' display ( from Anglesey) but last night's blew that away!!!

Seeing as meteor activity , over the year, is a near constant the difference has to be the soaking of the lower strat sso providing the moisture to condense around the meteor 'smoke'?

The study looking at the Mid west storms punching through the tropopause and into the lower strat must be putting extra moisture into the lower strat?

Some of the forecasts for cloud heights here over the coming week has me thinking we could be 'moistening' the lower strat at times over the period?

If we see aircraft re-routed around the clouds we'll know they're getting pretty high!

Hopefully tonight will be a repeat but I dare not expect better than what we just had!

Apart from the 'ripples' and the reticulated patterns there also seemed to be a type of stratus further north covering most of the N. Horizon?

Was that just my eyes or can others confirm?

[Jo Farrow]

My first proper time seeing them, it was super 

[Arnie Pie]

3 hours ago, Gray-Wolf said:

I have never seen such a comprehensive cover of Noctilucents as I did last night!

I think it was back in 06' that I saw my 'best ever' display ( from Anglesey) but last night's blew that away!!!

Seeing as meteor activity , over the year, is a near constant the difference has to be the soaking of the lower strat sso providing the moisture to condense around the meteor 'smoke'?

The study looking at the Mid west storms punching through the tropopause and into the lower strat must be putting extra moisture into the lower strat?

Some of the forecasts for cloud heights here over the coming week has me thinking we could be 'moistening' the lower strat at times over the period?

If we see aircraft re-routed around the clouds we'll know they're getting pretty high!

Hopefully tonight will be a repeat but I dare not expect better than what we just had!

Apart from the 'ripples' and the reticulated patterns there also seemed to be a type of stratus further north covering most of the N. Horizon?

Was that just my eyes or can others confirm?

This may be of interest to you Mr Wolf

https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2019/06/19/mysterious-moisture-in-the-mesosphere/

[Gray-Wolf]

Thanks arnie pie!

I believe we only started noting such clouds post the 1860's ( notably after Krakatoa ?) and I would have imagined that ,before this, the mainly agrarian population would have been well aware of the things the skies had to offer?

As such I'm leaning toward events 'loading' the strat/mesosphere with moisture though I did not know UV helped destroy it at those levels ( break it down by recombining it with other 'free' molecules?)

Maybe we are putting other things up there that has reduced the need for the H2O to be broken down/combined with other reactionary molecules?

I cannot discount the fact that the Industrial revolution had begun before we began noting Noctilucents at lower Lats?

 

All that aside I hope our clouds scarper before twilight and we can have another shot at some 'night shinning cloud' spotting tonight!

[Arnie Pie]

As a youngster  listening to my Mum, Dad, Aunties & Uncles they all used to talk about......how `back in the day`..they would walk to the top of road in Ladywood, Birmingham to watch the Northern lights

They were not aware of NLCs in the 40`s-50`s......seeing some of this years sightings its easy to see why

Which leads me to believe that this is unlikely to be `the record year for Noctilucent cloud being claimed`.....just more cameras about

after all sunspot variations and comets have been around a long time

Interesting to see the moisture in the atmosphere has peaked(all be it at a 12 year high)......especially over the pole

Mid level latitudes (35N-60N)  are still at a high but levelling out.....may be something to do with the `loading theory`

Lets hope that the moisture remains in the atmosphere at these latitudes all summer long

[Allseasons-Si]

Last was a good show and i did manage to capture some shots,ok the quality isn't that good because i rush in for the camera and just shot without setting the cam up,the spectacle was fading as i spotted it so i had to be quick

and a slight one on sunrise

last night i forgot about this,tonight i will be on the lookout

p.s some nice shots above,thanks.

[Bolt from the Blue]

From last night at around 23:30

[Hirudine]

Bright display this morning.......scuppered by cloud! 

Did anyone manage a clear view?

Edited June 23, 2019 by Hirudine