What are Noctilucent Clouds (NLCs)?
Well, this week has been an exceptional one for my bucket list….no not seeing the Spice Girls in Edinburgh, but it is what happened the night after that I am so excited about. I saw Noctilucent Clouds (NLCs) for the first time late on Sunday night into Monday morning. I watched them from our airbnb balcony from about 11.30pm – 2am and then sat up editing the images in awe! And then, something unbeliveable happened, I saw them last night in the sky here in Kent while I was driving home, so I grabbed my camera and went out to photo. They’re a rarity to see in general and then to see them so far south in Broadstairs and Ramsgate felt like I hit a nature girl jackpot!
I’ve been asked quite a few questions today about what they are and how they are different from other clouds, so I thought I would pen a blog post about them to try and help folk see them as it is the ideal time of year!
What are Noctilucent Clouds (NLCs)?
Noctilucent Clouds (NLCs) or ‘Night Shining’ are collections of tiny ice crystals that call our most upper atmosphere their home. And we’re talking upper, wrap your head around this, they’re about 50 miles up into the atmosphere! WOW! They’re the highest clouds in our atmosphere and they’re invisible to the eye, or cameras for much of the year. A unique set of circumstances has to line up in order to see them.
How and where do you see NLCs?
They are only visible during astronomical twilight in the summer months and this visible at latitudes of 50 – 70 deg north and south of the equator. So basically from North France to North Norway kind of range in Europe. They’re more commonly seen at more northern latitudes and are visible when the sun has set, they lower levels of the atmosphere are in Earth’s shadow but the sun is still lighting the upper atmosphere and if there are clouds at this level, then they shine bright white when the light hits them.
Essentially, you need to look north about 1 hour after sunset or before sunrise. You can check this website for your local astronomical twilight times, and if they have formed as clouds, this is when they will be visible if there are any formed in the upper atmosphere.
I am in a group of nature & night sky fanatics and it is called AUK – Aurora UK and by winter everyone shares data and info about seeing the aurora and in summer when aurora isn’t visible, it switches to chasing NLC clouds.
What do noctilucent clouds look like?
They are usually bright colourless patterns that look like they are glowing white. Occasionally, they can have a red and green tinge to them too. You’ll probably use words like waves, streaks or swirls to describe how they look. They’re one of those beautiful natural phenomenon that occur and if you’re out after the sun has set and you can see bright clouds in the north of the sky, then it is like that they are these beauties!
How many times have I seen them?
Then something ridiculously wonderful happened yesterday evening in Ramsgate…. I was driving home from swing band and was suddenly like, no way, NO WAY, no way are there (NLCs) in front of me here so far south.
Well, until a few days ago, that answer would have been on my bucket list still….but then I saw chatter in the aurora group that there were NLCs active and I was away in Edinburgh. I stuck my head out on to the balcony of the airbnb we were staying and I could see them! I was so excited, I stayed up and watched them from 23.00 – 02.00 as I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see them again.
I pulled over to take a photo on my phone and checked in the UK night sky group I am in and sure enough, they had just announced some activity over Belgium (50 miles south of us here in Kent!)
I called my hubby on the handsfree to lock up the house, raced home, got my camera and had to make a split decision, Broadstairs or Margate. TO BROADSTAIRS.
I parked up and ran from the car to the clifftops and gasped as the display had intensified and was framing the sky above the bay so beautifully. We stood and watched it for about 20 minutes, mindful that it is a school night.
Dear Mark agreed to shoot down into Ramsgate with me and we captured them behind the harbour, but cloud was starting to creep in and steal the show.
I am beyond thrilled to have seen them from my homeland, so far south and even more so that it was high tide so Viking Bay and Ramsgate Royal Harbour look totally gorgeous!
I am still in disbelief at the excitement and joy seeing the NLCs in my hometown, so far south in their active zone has brought me! I had quite a lot of questions today and so I hope this posts helps folks enjoy an NLC display in the future!
What camera settings do you use?
For the ones shot in Edinburgh, I didn’t take my tripod as I was travelling light and had no idea I would see the NLCs!
I shot them hand held, on my 50mm lens:
Shutter – 1/15 sec
ISO – 2500
Aperture – f1.4
For the images in Thanet, I was fully loaded with my tripod, so opted for a narrower depth of field to get the foreground and clouds in sharp focus and a longer exposure to make the water look pretty as follows:
Shutter – 15 seconds
ISO640
Aperture f7.1
