Noctilucent
clouds over CBA Belgium Observatory
2004, Jul 07/08
I have seen
noctilucent clounds from my observatory in Landen,
Belgium on many occasions, but never as beautiful as
on July 07th, 2004. The clouds were best visible
around 21h20m UT, appearing in the North, up to an
altitude of approx. 40 degrees, and were extremely
clear. I was setting up my telescope and CCD for an
observing campaign on a cataclysmic variable, at
that moment.
By the time I had
returned from the observatory, grabbed my digital camera and
some batteries, it was about 21h50m UT, and much of
the beauty was already over. I
nevertheless made a number of images. One is reproduced below. By no means
it represents what
was visible about 30 minutes earlier. Around 22h05m
UT, no more noctilucent clouds remained.
Noctilucent clouds on 2004, July 7
at 21h53m UT. Landen, Belgium.
Olympus C3030Z camera at 400 ISO