Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery -- Summer 2011: Page 2

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Summer 2011

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Observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the Sun has dipped 6^o to 16^o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you've probably spotted a noctilucent cloud. Although noctilucent clouds appear most often at arctic latitudes, they have been sighted in recent years as far south as Colorado, Utah and Virginia. NLCs are seasonal, appearing most often in late spring and summer. In the northern hemisphere, the best time to look would be between mid-May and the end of August. See also 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009

Photographer, Location	Images	Comments
Dave Hughes, Near Edmonton, Alberta Canada Jul. 2, 2011	#1, #2, #3, #4	Noticed the clouds just before local midnight, continued past 2:00 am and were still bright enough to reflect in a local slough. Canon 5D Mark II.
Aaron Kennedy, East Grand Forks, Minesota Jul. 1, 2011	#1, #2, #3	First time to see NLCs. Wasn't sure how long the display would last so I setup shot close to home near the confluence of the Red Lake and Red Rivers in East Grand Forks, MN. Note that both rivers are at flood stage. Pictures taken with a Canon 7D and a combination of lenses and at ISOs 100-400.
Etienne Lecoq, Mesnil Panneville Normandy France Jul. 2, 2011	#1, #2, #3	This morning before going to work , Nikon D70 20mm lens, 15 secs exposure at 400 iso
Dan Earl, Grass Valley, Oregon Jul. 2, 2011	#1, #2	First NLC siting in a couple of years. Very vivid display. First Spotted them at about 3:30 AM Saturday July 2nd.
Adrian Maricic, Loch Leven Fife Scotland Jul. 2, 2011	#1, #2, more	The Noctilucent clouds were glowing dim and bright, giving a spectacular display. This is the 4th night in a row we've seen them!
Brian Kerns, Stanton, North Dakota, USA Jul. 1, 2011	#1	Photo details: Nikon D90 ~50mm f/5.6 ISO800 15sec
Steven Rosenow, Potlatch, Washington Jul. 2, 2011	#1, #2, #3, #4, more	I stayed up all night after photographing last night's spectactular array of NLC's, and at 3:30 AM I drove up north to a spot along Washington's Hood Canal for a panoramic view of a visually stunning display that stretched as far as the eye could see. These were also the most brilliant NLCs I have ever witnessed! Took my Nikon Coolpix L120 out and these are the shots!
Tony George, Umatilla, Oregon Jul. 1, 2011	#1,	Photographed from Umatilla, Oregon on 7-1-2011. We are in northeast Oregon on the border of Washington and on the Columbia River. The view is from my house with the Columbia River and McNary Dam in the foreground. We see noctilucent clouds here maybe 3-6 times a year, but this was a particularly intricate display and quite bright. The picture was shot at 10:00 PM, with the clouds visible until 11:00 PM. They seemed to move off to the west and disappear. Canon PowerShot SX20IS, 400 ISO, 1 second exposure.

more images: from Jeff Zambory of Ghost Lake, Alberta; from Joseph Shaw of Bozeman, Montana; from Colin Peart of Camrose, Alberta; from Jim Tegerdine of Marysville, Washington; from Jim Reed of Mitchell, South Dakota

Northern Lights Photo Gallery: A solar wind stream hit Earth on May 20th causing a mild geomagnetic storm and Northern Lights around the Arctic Circle. The auroras of May 21st were so bright, they were visible in the twilight blue sky above Nunavik, Quebec.

"The sky is blue at 1 o'clock in the morning when I took these pictures," says photographer Sylvain Serre. "At our latitude at this time of year, it is blue all night long--and it's never a dark blue. So, at 1 o'clock in the morning, the sky is bright and I can see only a few stars."

In spite of this extra glare, Serre was able to see the auroras. "I saw them with my unaided eyes. The clouds made it difficult, but the clouds were moving slowly while the northern lights were moving faster." This, plus the green color of the auroras, made it possible to sort things out.