Mysterious noctilucent clouds as seen from space
Thursday, February 10, 2011 - 13:31
in Astronomy & Space
Mysterious "night shining" or noctilucent clouds are beautiful to behold, and are usually seen during the summertime, appearing at sunset. They are thin, wavy ice clouds that form at very high altitudes and reflect sunlight long after the Sun has dropped below the horizon. Scientists dont know exactly why they form, but continue to observe them both from Earth and from space. These images were taken by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASAs Aura satellite.