{"id":265297,"date":"2025-05-31T12:02:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T12:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/nasa-wants-your-help-to-study-these-rare-high-altitude-clouds-that-appear-to-glow-at-sunrise-and-sunset\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T12:02:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T12:02:55","slug":"nasa-wants-your-help-to-study-these-rare-high-altitude-clouds-that-appear-to-glow-at-sunrise-and-sunset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=265297","title":{"rendered":"NASA Wants Your Help to Study These Rare, High-Altitude Clouds That Appear to Glow at Sunrise and Sunset"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Noctilucent clouds usually form close to the poles, but in recent decades, they\u2019re being spotted closer to the Equator<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n \"Margherita\n <\/div>\n
\n

\n

Margherita Bassi<\/a><\/p>\n

– Daily Correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Noctilucent
\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>
\n

Noctilucent clouds over the Baltic Sea, as seen from Germany in 2019. Typically seen in polar regions, the clouds are increasingly appearing at mid- and low latitudes.
\n Matthias S\u00fc\u00dfen via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While astronomy and clouds don\u2019t usually mix, a rare type of atmospheric phenomenon, called noctilucent or night-shining clouds, offers an exception, as reported by Space.com<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Anthony Wood.<\/p>\n

Noctilucent clouds are wispy, silvery-blue clouds found at much higher altitudes than usual. While most clouds<\/a> form in the troposphere between Earth\u2019s surface and about 11 miles above the ground, these appear in the mesosphere<\/a>, up to 50 miles high. They become visible right after sunset or right before sunrise, when the sun illuminates them from beyond the horizon. The rare clouds likely come into being as ice crystallizes on meteor dust, when the mesosphere is rich with water and very cold, per EarthSky<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Paradoxically, noctilucent clouds usually form in the summer. That\u2019s because during the hottest months of the year, surface air warms up and rises, expanding and cooling as it does so. Alongside other processes, this cools the mesosphere to temperatures as low as minus 210 degrees Fahrenheit, according to EarthSky<\/em>. This happens around Earth\u2019s poles, so people are thus most likely to see noctilucent clouds in polar regions during the summer\u2014for the Northern Hemisphere, the clouds tend to appear between late May and mid-August.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

What are noctilucent clouds and how can you see them?<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n