Breathtaking structure of noctilucent clouds
As the PoSSUM noctilucent cloud airborne campaign unfolds in High Level, Alberta, Canada, the PoSSUM team gets valuable scientific data using PMC-turbo cameras. As part of the science communication and outreach effort, photographer Adrien Mauduit is helping the project by taking ground imagery. It includes still images, but also time-lapse films that reveal the structure and evolution of the clouds in a breathtaking fashion.
"You might think they look like the waves of the ocean or the bottom of a pool, and that's exactly what this wondrous natural spectacle looks like," Mauduit said. "These ice particles reflect the light from the sun as they are sandwiched by different layers of the upper mesosphere. this, in turn, allows the delicate and elusive fluid mechanics to be witnessed and understood better, hence the goal of the project."
In this gorgeous 4K video, you will discover the different fine structures NLC's can take against the night sky (you can see stars moving in the background, their shakiness coming from image stabilization): Waves, billows, knots, bands, lacunous holes and veritable storms are waiting for you!
Video courtesy and caption: Adrien Mauduit
Read more: After delayed start, magnificent noctilucent clouds are back in full effect – July 4, 2017
Featured image credit: Adrien Mauduit
If you value what we do here, open your ad-free account and support our journalism.
Related articles
Producing content you read on this website takes a lot of time, effort, and hard work. If you value what we do here, select the level of your support and register your account.
Your support makes this project fully self-sustainable and keeps us independent and focused on the content we love to create and share.
All our supporters can browse the website without ads, allowing much faster speeds and a clean interface. Your comments will be instantly approved and you’ll have a direct line of communication with us from within your account dashboard. You can suggest new features and apps and you’ll be able to use them before they go live.
You can choose the level of your support.
Stay kind, vigilant and ready!
You can also support us by sending us a one-off payment using PayPal:
