Rare ‘bright at night’ clouds give the 12th century church a ‘ghostly glow’ with electric blue and silver streaks in the night sky over England
- A photographer took a stunning picture of ‘night shining’ in England
- Formally known as noctilucent clouds, the shape in the upper atmosphere
- The image was captured around 2 a.m. at Knowlton Church in Dorset.
- The clouds consist of ice crystals that become visible during twilight.
A photographer caught an amazing summer phenomenon in the early morning that gave a twelfth-century church a ghostly glow.
Ollie Taylor, an astrophotographer, broke ‘bright at night’ clouds that lit up the night sky in south west England with dramatic streaks of blue and silver.
Formally known as noctilucent clouds (NLC), they form in the mesosphere, which is located at altitudes of around 50 miles, making them the highest in Earth’s atmosphere.
The clouds consist of ice crystals that become visible during twilight when the sun shines from the horizon.
A photographer caught an amazing summer phenomenon in the early morning that gave a twelfth-century church a ghostly glow. Ollie Taylor, an astrophotographer, broke ‘bright at night’ clouds that lit up the night sky in south west England with dramatic streaks of blue and silver.
On June 22, Taylor embarked on a mission to capture the night clouds in Dorset, which is located on the south coast of England.
He arrived at Knowlton Church in the middle of a Neolithic monument and began to take the scene from 2 a.m. to 2:50 a.m.
“It was an excellent night of filming, arriving at the scene at night, already greeted by noctilucent clouds better than I had ever seen in southern England before,” said Ollie.
“Electric blue complements the misty landscape and the mysterious structure.”
Clouds generally form in late spring and summer when the lower atmosphere warms up. Atmospheric circulation pushes air upward, which then expands and cools. Water vapor becomes trapped in clouds, freezes in ice crystals, and forms meteoric dust.
Clouds appear with electric blue stripes and sliver and are typically seen at latitudes of 45 and 80 degrees in the northern and southern hemispheres. The photo shows the night in central Russia 2018
Clouds generally form in late spring and summer when the lower atmosphere warms up.
Atmospheric circulation pushes air upward, which then expands and cools.
Water vapor is trapped in clouds, freezes in ice crystals, and forms meteoric dust.
The clouds appear with electric blue streaks and sliver and are typically seen at latitudes of 45 and 80 degrees in the northern and southern hemispheres, Newsweek reports.
And the impressive screen can even be seen from space, as astronauts aboard the International Space Station have shared images of the phenomenon.
Taylor tracked the clouds using a combination of different sources, including space weather updates, webcam observations, and a Facebook group, according to the European Space Agency.
Clouds are usually seen when the sun is just below the horizon, about 90 minutes to about two hours after sunset or before sunrise. At those times, when the sun is below the Earth’s horizon but is visible from the high altitude of the NLCs, sunlight illuminates them and causes a dazzling glow in the night sky.
Clouds are usually seen when the sun is just below the horizon, about 90 minutes to about two hours after sunset or before sunrise.
At those times, when the sun is below the Earth’s horizon but is visible from the high altitude of the NLCs, sunlight illuminates them and causes a dazzling glow in the night sky.
Noctilucent clouds were first described in the mid-19th century after the Krakatau eruption.
Volcanic ash spread through the atmosphere, creating vivid sunsets across the world and sparking the first known NLC observations.
At first people thought they were a side effect of the volcano, but long after Krakatau’s ash settled, the wispy, bright clouds remained.
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