Image: Station crew sees 'night-shining' clouds
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 - 08:01
in Astronomy & Space
(Phys.org) -- In both the Earth's Northern and Southern Hemispheres polar mesospheric clouds are at the peak of their visibility, during their respective late spring and early summer seasons. Visible from aircraft in flight, the International Space Station and from the ground at twilight, the clouds typically appear as delicate, shining threads against the darkness of space--hence their other names of noctilucent or "night-shining" clouds.