Stratospheric Cloud Alert!

On the evening on Jan. 26th, sky watchers in parts of England and the Netherlands witnessed unusually colorful sunsets and prolonged twilights. Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley believes that "we are experiencing an episode of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (Type 1) as a result of unusually low stratospheric temperatures.

Source: spaceweather.com


I also noticed the strange lighting we have be having over the past few days, and a superb sunset we had a couple of days ago. I wish I'd taken a pic now!

Be on the look out for all kinds of cool stuff, including not just nacreous and polar stratospheric clouds, but also for Sundogs and halos.



Related links:

atoptics.co.uk

Good old Les

He's assisted me many times on optical phenomena

Unusual to see those clouds so far south

There is a halo around the moon right now where I'm at (New England), is this normal or something that happens only once in while?
Should I take photos of it?

Oh well, I can't hold the camera steady enough for long opened shutter and It doesn't look cool enough to set up the tripod

[edit on 27-1-2010 by Elieser]

reply to post by Elieser


Hi pal,
This Optical phenomenon has been documented, (check google "moon halo") though they are vey beautiful,
Usually I witness them on 'full moon' occasions.
On topic of the thread I did notice last night a spectacular sunset, but they usually are round here....
*sigh* I love the sky...

[edit on 27-1-2010 by paine]

reply to post by OzWeatherman


I'll second that Oz.

Les' Atmospheric Optics site is also an excellent resource - I've spent many hours on it!


reply to post by Elieser



As paine said, Moon halos are actually fairly common, but still worth watching for, and be alert for possible moondogs, which are rarer and would be quite a catch to photograph.

They could be quite challenging to capture with a camera unless you know what you are doing though. A tripod is a good idea, and you will want to block out the Moon itself (with a building, tree, etc), otherwise the glare from the Moon light hitting the camera lens can "wash out" faint detail in your photo.

It's also a good idea to experiment with the exposure length (if your camera allows), as the camera metering will not be much good under conditions that are encountered in situations like this. That goes for any shots of the sky in general.

These clouds are like nothing i have ever seen before.
The colours i witnessed were a murky brown/red.
But the times that i witnessed them were around 10pm gmt.
Reminiscent of storm clouds, i expected heavy rain every time i saw them.

I recall the red sunsets after the Mt Pinatubo eruption...but these are amazing... but there are no big eruptions to explain it...so for lack of a terrestrial explanation, we must cast our eyes skyward... Couple this to the recent reports of fireballs and meteor falls... maybe we are entering a dust storm in our solar systems voyage through the cosmos

[edit on 28-1-2010 by seataka]

Originally posted by tracey ace
The colours i witnessed were a murky brown/red.

I think you may be describing light pollution there

reply to post by seataka


Dust/particulates in our atmosphere does not have to be the only cause...

In this case lower than usual stratospheric temperatures seems to have been the cause.

Edit to add: It also says here:

A large part of Europe had similar spectacular sunsets and twilights in February 2008 caused by very low stratospheric temperatures and Type I PSCs (see the thumbnail links below).

Volcanic aerosol and dust give similar sunsets and we should not rule out these possibilities at this stage.

We could be seeing the start of a series of spectacular sunsets. Look out for twilights and sunrise/sets over the next few days.

There have been some recent eruptions in the not too distant past. I would imagine they are at least a small contributory factor.


[edit on 28-1-2010 by C.H.U.D.]

The older folks around here always said that when you see that halo it means its going to snow.. I have no evidence to that but just thought id pass it on

reply to post by Moral Decay

Yes, it snowed today and I also noticed the clouds looking "muddy" and the same "muddy" colors in the clean snow.
I looked up Moon dogs and by looking at the photos they look like the rainbows that form in the 4 corners of the sun's halo after a day of airplanes "cloud seeding".

This is my sun dogs video I took a few weeks ago, I didn't know what it was called until this thread, I don't know if it is the stratosphere or that the planes trails have the same effect.

reply to post by Elieser

This is my sun dogs video I took a few weeks ago

Good catch Elieser. Thanks for sharing.

I don't know if it is the stratosphere or that the planes trails have the same effect.

That's easy to answer, it's ice crystals...

Ice halo displays range from the familiar circle around the sun or moon to rare and prized events when the whole sky is webbed by intricate arcs.

Tiny ice crystals in the atmosphere create halos by refracting and reflecting light.

Source: atoptics.co.uk