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Posted by: Stu Jun 1 2010, 01:06 PM

... with reports of NLC seen last night coming in from Russia and Denmark.

http://nlcnet.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=2010&action=display&thread=567

So, cameras at the ready, and away we go...

Posted by: MahFL Jun 1 2010, 01:20 PM

In Florida ?

Posted by: Stu Jun 1 2010, 01:26 PM

Maybe not Florida, no, sorry.

But for those of us oop north this is an exciting time, and for the next couple of months, every clear night at twilight, we'll be poking our heads out of north-west facing doors and windows (or, in my case, trotting across the road to the park there) and looking for signs of those beautiful silvery-blue clouds shining in the sky. Saw a couple of displays last year, missed more cos of weather and having to sleep sometime, so fingers crossed for a better year this year.

http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/nlc.

Posted by: ynyralmaen Jun 3 2010, 10:53 PM

BBC Wales report on Noctilucent Clouds http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/10232982.stm.

Nice animations of the clouds; look like they were filmed from Llanbadrig - no light pollution on the northern horizon from there.

Posted by: Ant103 Jun 5 2010, 09:47 AM

The best NLCs I had the last year, when I was at Rotterdam
http://www.db-prods.net/blog/2009/07/02/nlc-a-rotterdam-le-2-juillet-2009/
http://www.db-prods.net/blog/2009/06/17/nlc-a-rotterdam-cette-fois-ci-ca-deconne-pas/

I will try to go back to Rotterdam 2 weeks about in July, because I liked this city and I hope to catch some NLC (in Marseille, at 43° N, it will be harder to have some nice displays).

Posted by: Sunspot Jun 6 2010, 11:30 AM

That was a spectacular display, saw it from here too.

Posted by: Stu Jun 9 2010, 12:47 PM

While we all wait for NLC to appear, there's a comet in the northern sky that's worth a look...

http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/look-for-a-comet

Posted by: tty Jun 9 2010, 07:24 PM

Some nice noctilucent clouds over southern Sweden last night. Tonight it's raining and solid clouds unfortunately.

Posted by: Stu Jun 11 2010, 06:48 AM

Lovely clear night in Kendal last night, so of course there was absolutely NO sign of NLC... Nice views of Venus, tho...

http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/and-still-no-sign-of-nlc

Posted by: Stu Jun 14 2010, 05:48 AM

I think I finally caught a glimpse of NLC from here in Kendal at ridiculous o'clock this morning...

Went up to Kendal Castle at 11pm, and of course there was a great dirty band of squid ink-black cloud draped across the northern sky, which drifted from east to west sooooo slowly, never allowing me a look at anything lower than fifteen degrees or so... At around 00.30 I thought I maybe possibly perhaps saw 'something' in a gap, what looked like the end of a streamer, but couldn't be sure. 01.00 approached, and with work early this morning I decided to head back down the hill... Got to the park almost opposite my flat, and decided to take that deadly One Last Look Just In Case glance at the sky...

Doesn't look much on the pic - had to grab it quickly before cloud piled back in - but in binocs there was definite structure visible, so I'm 80% sure these were NLC and not high cirrus or vapour trails, especially as observers in Anglesey were seeing a fine display at around the same time.

Phew...!

Posted by: JohnVV Jun 14 2010, 06:21 AM

stu a quick enhancement on the center to bring out the noise
[attachment=21904:NLC_1b2gmic1.jpg]
or
http://www.imagebam.com/image/8ef85984378111

Posted by: Stu Jun 15 2010, 06:43 AM

Thanks John, appreciate that

Thankfully, last night's/this morning's display was a lot easier to see. Meant staying up until almost 3am (zzzzzz!) but worth it...

Full gallery: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=180722&id=543617930&l=4472047052

Posted by: Ant103 Jun 15 2010, 01:34 PM

You lucky guy Very nice pics Stu. Glad to see so many effort reaching their goal. But this is the beggining More and better NLCs will come .

Posted by: Stu Jun 16 2010, 05:17 AM

Another night of lost sleep, but who cares when you get shots like these..?

Gallery: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181074&id=543617930&l=52998ed817

Observing a beautiful display of glowing atmospheric clouds from the centre of an ancient castle... yeah, not a bad way to spend a couple of hours...

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Jun 16 2010, 05:56 AM

Stu ! That's gorgeous.

EDIT: That first one is now my desktop.

Posted by: nprev Jun 16 2010, 06:01 AM

Mine too...beautiful!!!

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Jun 16 2010, 03:54 PM

Stu what kind of exposures and ISO settings are we looking at here?

Posted by: Stu Jun 16 2010, 04:09 PM

A variety, but I'd say the best ones were exposures of between 6s and 8s, set at 200 or 400 ASA. Tripod mounted camera, with a ten second time delay just to ensure all vibrations were dampened down by the time the exposure started.

Really pleased with the castle ones; I've been down here in Kendal 6 years now, and the first time I went up there I fell in love with the castle, and thought what a great place it would be to photograph the NLC. But since then conditions have never been just right - faint display, wrong direction, etc. Last night everything was shiny, and the results aren't bad at all, I think

Updated gallery: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181074&id=543617930&l=52998ed817

Posted by: Stu Jun 19 2010, 06:37 AM

Another display of NLC seen from Kendal, hours after England's *****pathetic***** display against Algeria...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181919&id=543617930&l=c4a7483082

Posted by: Stu Jun 20 2010, 08:16 AM

Subtle display of NLC seen from the Castle this morning... nothing too dramatic, just gentle and wafty... :-)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=182174&id=543617930&l=83b904adaa

Still waiting for the first Big One of the season... maybe tonight..?

Posted by: Stu Jun 21 2010, 06:15 AM

Bit of a "Grrrrrr!" display last night...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=182489&id=543617930&l=a523e1f360

Posted by: Stu Jun 22 2010, 05:55 AM

No sign of any NLC activity whatsoever last night, not from here in Kendal anyway, but on the plus side I watched a lovely bright pass of the ISS, saw a cloud shaped exactly like a rabbit, and got to try out my new furry-eared, mega-warm Deputy Dawg observing hat, so not a bad way to end/start the day...

Posted by: Stu Jun 26 2010, 07:10 AM

Another frustrating half-****d display last night... Getting the distinct feeling that the NLC are laughing at me this year...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=183787&id=543617930&l=67228c2b83

Posted by: Stu Jul 5 2010, 09:18 AM

I won't give what I saw last night the title of "display" because it doesn't deserve it...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=186220&id=543617930&l=fa301694b1