T hey swirl at the very edges of our atmosphere, forming paper-thin ripples that glow electric and pearl blue. They’re lit by a twilight sun catchin

Don’t Miss the Electric Clouds This Summer

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2024-07-09 23:30:06

T hey swirl at the very edges of our atmosphere, forming paper-thin ripples that glow electric and pearl blue. They’re lit by a twilight sun catching on ice crystals and seeded by rocket exhaust and space dust.

These are noctilucent, or “night-shining,” clouds—the highest clouds in Earth’s atmosphere—and they seem to be spreading. Some scientists attribute their proliferation to global climate change. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you may have a greater than usual chance to spot their ethereal shimmer this summer.

Noctilucent clouds are most visible from the end of May through September in the Northern Hemisphere, but they extend farther south as the season reaches its peak, which happens around July 11. (In the Southern Hemisphere, the season extends from the end of November through February and peaks January 10.)

A century ago, observations of the clouds were only recorded in far northern lands such as Britain, Scandinavia, and Russia. But today, they’re spotted as far south as Colorado or Utah. (They have historically been more common in the Northern Hemisphere than the southern, and geographically, somewhere between 50 and 70 degrees latitude seems to be the sweet spot.)