Starship Asterisk*

Noctilucent Clouds and Aurora Over Scotland

Explanation: Why would the sky still glow after sunset? Besides stars and the band of our Milky Way galaxy, the sky might glow because it contains either noctilucent clouds or aurora. Rare individually, both are visible in the above time lapse movie taken over Caithness, Scotland, UK taken during a single night earlier this month. First noted in 1885, many noctilucent clouds are known to correlate with atmospheric meteor trails, although details and the origins of others remain a topic of research. These meandering bright filaments of sunlight-reflecting ice crystals are the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. The above video captures not only a variety of noctilucent clouds, but also how their structure varies over minutes. Lower clouds typically appear dark or fast moving. About halfway through the video the clouds are joined by aurora. At times, low clouds, noctilucent clouds, and aurora are all visible simultaneously, each doing their own separate dance, and once -- see if you can find it -- even with the Big Dipper rotating across the background.

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That was very nice. Very nice indeed!!

I am often unable to see the APOD. For this one, all I get is nothing in the space where the video should be. I normally use Internet Explorer 10 but since it does not work for this I tried Seamonkey (Firefox) and it shows something about upgrading Flash but I have been unsuccessful at figuring out what to do about that.

So then I tried Opera and Safari. They both work; I could see the video in paused mode using Opera and I played the video using Safari. I assume Opera would play it too for me but I did not try.

So if someone says they cannot see the video then suggest that they try a different browser.

As for the video, it is interesting but the audio has nothing to do with the video.

The music was irritating. These type of videos use a cookie-cutter approach in music - boring!

Yeah. those tec savvy are recommended to turn the sound OFF

Hello,

does anyone know what the four red dots are that appear in the lower right from 2:15 to 2:29?

Wonderful Pictures, Thanks very much!
(Almost immediately switched off the tacky soundtrack. No need here to go for an Academy Award ^^.
Would have been grateful for some original wind noises, though)

Markus Schwarz wrote:Does anyone know what the four red dots are that appear in the lower right from 2:15 to 2:29?

It looks like a transmitting station for tv and/or radio. It could be the Rumster Forest transmitting station (58.328056,-3.371389); that is in the Caithness, Scotland region. It has a 229.2 metres (752 ft) high mast.

The Earth never ceases to amaze me. No matter where or when we look, it's beautiful.

Nice video! A+

Brigadoon's minister, disturbed by the evil influence of the outside world, prayed "to make Brigadoon an' all the people in it vanish into the Highland mist. Vanish, but not for always. It would return jus' as it was for one day every hundred years. The people would go on leadin' customary lives; but each day when they awakened it would be a hundred years later."

Since Ursa Major is visible, at least in the one segment, the view is to the North at a local time of about 2 AM and we're seeing Sunrise, as it were, from sunlight coming over the North Pole. Interesting.

zbvhs wrote:
Since Ursa Major is visible, at least in the one segment, the view
is to the North at a local time of about 2 AM and we're seeing
Sunrise, as it were, from sunlight coming over the North Pole.

• Nautical dawn, as it were, from sunlight coming over the Barents Sea.

The people would go on leadin' customary lives; but each day when they awakened it would be a hundred years later."

AKA - The "Anti-Groundhog Day" Effect. Where did the century go?

Totally AMAZING!!!!! A double treat.

:---[===] *

WOW! That's all I could say while watching this. It's amazing... breathtaking scenes of the sky that I will never be able to see where I live in SouthEast Texas. Love the APOD site.

Liz S. wrote:
It's amazing... breathtaking scenes of the sky that I will never be able to see where I live in SouthEast Texas.

• Déjà vu all over again!

Why does clicking on the words "Find it" in the paragraph below the video take one to a picture of a cat with its head in a green glass container?

KateLR: I may be mistaken, but I think the APOD editors might simply like cats.

I think that may be the 'official' "find it" puddy tat. It pops in now and then.

KateLR wrote:
Why does clicking on the words "Find it" in the paragraph below the video take one to a picture of a cat with its head in a green glass container?

I never know whether I should put any effort into deciphering APOD's more puzzling links or not. Chances are it's just going to somehow come back to cat videos which I am absolutely sure I am uninterested in. It's just too cutesy for me.

Too cutesy Maru would be disappointed.

Uwe wrote:Wonderful Pictures, Thanks very much!
(Almost immediately switched off the tacky soundtrack. No need here to go for an Academy Award ^^.
Would have been grateful for some original wind noises, though)

5$ says if you wanted to pay an original composer and orchestra the videographer would be happy to accept your gift.

Beautiful movie.

KateLR wrote:Why does clicking on the words "Find it" in the paragraph below the video take one to a picture of a cat with its head in a green glass container?

Because science.

neufer wrote:I never know whether I should put any effort into deciphering APOD's more puzzling links or not. Chances are it's just going to somehow come back to cat videos which I am absolutely sure I am uninterested in. It's just too cutesy for me.

Having fun at my expense? I have a tiny violin to play and I'm not afraid to play it!