APOD: Noctilucent Clouds over Florida (2024 Jul 09)

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APOD Robot
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APOD: Noctilucent Clouds over Florida (2024 Jul 09)

Post by APOD Robot » Tue Jul 09, 2024 4:06 am

Image Noctilucent Clouds over Florida

Explanation: These clouds are doubly unusual. First, they are rare noctilucent clouds, meaning that they are visible at night -- but only just before sunrise or just after sunset. Second, the source of these noctilucent clouds is actually known. In this rare case, the source of the sunlight-reflecting ice-crystals in the upper atmosphere can be traced back to the launch of a nearby SpaceX rocket about 30 minutes earlier. Known more formally as polar mesospheric clouds, the vertex of these icy wisps happens to converge just in front of a rising crescent Moon. The featured image -- and accompanying video -- were captured over Orlando, Florida, USA about a week ago. The bright spot to the right of the Moon is the planet Jupiter, while the dotted lights above the horizon on the right are from an airplane.

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Ann
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Re: APOD: Noctilucent Clouds over Florida (2024 Jul 09)

Post by Ann » Tue Jul 09, 2024 9:01 am

That's a gorgeous image! :D


It's a bit sad that the cause of these lovely clouds is the exhausts from the launch of a space ship, but still - it's a gorgeous image!

Ann
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Re: APOD: Noctilucent Clouds over Florida (2024 Jul 09)

Post by Sa Ji Tario » Tue Jul 09, 2024 5:02 pm

She looks like a fairy with a blue cape!!

NateWhilk
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Re: APOD: Noctilucent Clouds over Florida (2024 Jul 09)

Post by NateWhilk » Tue Jul 09, 2024 5:25 pm

Ann wrote: Tue Jul 09, 2024 9:01 am
It's a bit sad that the cause of these lovely clouds is the exhausts from the launch of a space ship, but still - it's a gorgeous image!

Ann
It's sad you would point that out.