Mysterious Glowing Clouds Targeted By NASA

[skids]

Glowing, silvery blue clouds that have been spreading around the world and brightening mysteriously in recent years will soon be studied in unprecedented detail by a NASA spacecraft.

The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission will be the first satellite dedicated to studying this enigmatic phenomenon. Due to launch in late 2006, it should reveal whether the clouds are caused by global warming, as many scientists believe, New Scientist magazine reports.

"Noctilucent" clouds, which glow at night, form in the upper atmosphere, at an altitude of about 80 kilometers, and their glow can be seen just after sunset or just before sunrise.

"Even though the Sun's gone down and you're in darkness, the clouds are so high up, the Sun is still illuminating them," explains AIM principal investigator James Russell at Hampton University in Virginia, U.S. Russell described the mission on Thursday at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

http://freeinternetpress.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7042

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_cloud

[beam me up scottie]

1. They're quite beautiful.

And possibly beneficial:

Some scientists speculate that the clouds might actually help mitigate global warming, says Russell. "If these clouds were to continue to grow and cover broad areas of Earth, they would form something like a thin, semi-transparent umbrella," he said. "They would reduce the amount of solar rays making it to the ground, so they could actually reduce the effects of global warming."

[salvorhardin]

2. It seems like all the cool atmospheric phenomena

It seems like all the cool atmospheric phenomena happens at lattitudes higher than where I live. :-(

[beam me up scottie]

3. Don't complain.

I haven't seen the Aurora Borealis since I moved here.:cry:

I mean, tornadoes are fun and everything, but nothing beats watching the Northern Lights.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. I've been hoping to see the lights ever since I moved to OR...

they say sometimes you can. :)

Of course, Hawaii would be nice.....



sunset on Molokai.




Mother Nature is amazing.

[beam me up scottie]

7. Yes, she is indeed.

:)

[Random_Australian]

8. That is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

In true human tradition, I am nicking a copy.

[Ready4Change]

9. ...

:wow:

[leftyladyfrommo]

11. Wow!

We have some beautiful sunrises and sunsets here, too - in Kansas City. But we don't have any water so we miss out on that whole aspect of the thing.

[Occulus]

10. Sprites almost extend into space n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. I've seen those once or twice...

they are beautiful.

I just figured it was sunlight hitting them just right as it set.

[beam me up scottie]

5. I don't know if I would know the difference either.

As much as I dislike the weather here, we do have some spectacular sunsets-something I missed out on when I lived in the mountains.

[leftyladyfrommo]

12. I don't think I've ever noticed these. But I would sure like to.

Clouds are just such amazing things.

The clouds we get during thunderstorms are incredible.

[Meldread]

13. I wonder...

...if I understand this correctly, could this be Earth's way of trying to regulate itself against Global Warming? The Earth is an amazing thing, planets in general are amazing things, so I really wouldn't be shocked if the Earth was somehow auditing itself to try and regulate its temperature. I don't think people realize just how amazing our planet is in its complexity. I also don't think people understand how extraordinarily lucky we are to have evolved on this world and in this solar system.

I would love to find another example of intelligent life and take a look at the planet that they evolved on. Most likely, they weren't as lucky as us. I guess if you wanted to compare most planets we know of so far to ours, we are the "deluxe apartment in the sky" compared to ghetto housing everywhere else.