rollwagen3 - noctilucent clouds

"Breathtaking. A crackerjack display. The best in years!" These are a few of the things veteran observers are saying about the ongoing "noctilucent storm" over Europe. The electric-blue clouds have been sighted from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Poland, Russia and the British Isles. Click on the image to launch a movie recorded by Chris Rollwagen of Potsdam, Germany (DivX required):
"This was a very strong display," he says. "The clouds were bright and showed an intense contrast to the deep blue sky. I'm hoping for more in the nights ahead."
He'll probably get his wish. For reasons no one fully understands, noctilucent clouds tend to be most active during years of solar minimum. 2009 is such a year. The sun is in the pits of the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century, and many researchers expect a banner season for these mysterious clouds.

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Science & Technology

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• noctilucent