Strange Clouds at the Edge of Space

[n2doc]

August 25, 2008: When in space, keep an eye on the window. You never know what you might see.

Last month, astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) witnessed a beautiful display of noctilucent or "night-shining" clouds. The station was located about 340 km over western Mongolia on July 22nd when the crew snapped this picture:



Atmospheric scientist Gary Thomas of the University of Colorado has seen thousands of noctilucent cloud (NLC) photos, and he ranks this one among the best. "It's lovely," he says. "And it shows just how high these clouds really are--at the very edge of space."

He estimates the electric-blue band was 83 km above Earth's surface, higher than 99.999% of our planet's atmosphere. The sky at that altitude is space-black. It is the realm of meteors, high-energy auroras and decaying satellites.

What are clouds doing up there? "That's what we're trying to find out," says Thomas.

People first noticed NLCs at the end of the 19th century after the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. The Indonesian supervolcano hurled plumes of ash more than 50 km high in Earth's atmosphere. This produced spectacular sunsets and, for a while, turned twilight sky watching into a worldwide pastime. One evening in July 1885, Robert Leslie of Southampton, England, saw wispy blue filaments in the darkening sky. He published his observations in the journal Nature and is now credited with the discovery of noctilucent clouds.



more at link:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/25aug_nlc.htm

[grannie4peace]

1. thank you for posting this :):):)

[smiley_glad_hands]

2. Thats where all the hot air from the likes of Rush and Hannity ends up. n/t

[semillama]

3. Now if there was only someway to locate their actual bodies up there. n/t

[ZombieHorde]

4. God likes his bong hits.

Congratulations, you have have found the hidden text!

[SpookyCat]

5. Fantastic! Thank you.