Laying down on the grass during a warm summer day and staring up at the clouds sounds kind of nice. But have you ever looked at the clouds at night? The next couple of weeks will offer a rare opportunity to see some high-flying night clouds that only show up this time of the year.
Noctilucent clouds form between late-May and early-July and are only visible about an hour after sunset and an hour before sunrise. Unlike the clouds that we see during the day - some of them linger only a couple miles overhead - noctilucent clouds are about 50 miles above the surface of the Earth. "They're right up near the denser part of the atmosphere, literally at the edge of space," says Bob King. These clouds are made of ice crystals in the mesosphere where it's coldest during the summer. These blue whisps can be seen in the northern sky near the horizon.
June will wind down with the Strawberry Moon. This month's full moon will be making its appearance on Monday the 29th.
You can hear Astro Bob's Backyard Astronomy every other Tuesday at 8:20am on Northland Morning.
