The Moon, Jupiter and Noctulucent Clouds

November 04, 2005

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Provided and copyright by: Alain Couture
Summary authors & editors: Weather Underground

On the photo above, the waxing crescent Moon and Jupiter are shining over the orange-coloured artificial lights of Quebec City in Quebec, Canada, while at the same time a nice display of bluish noctilucent clouds can be seen. Noctilucent clouds form at about 80 km above the Earth's surface, and they're therefore high enough to remain visible even after the Sun has set during the summer months at latitudes poleward of above about 45 degrees -- the Sun illuminates these clouds while below the viewer's horizon.

Photo taken a little after sunset on July 12, 2005. Panorama created from two separate images taken with a 18 mm lens on a Canon 300D digital camera.

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