An obervation of the night sky

[DJM]

Please forgive me if this question is posted in the wrong forum.

My wife and I smoke outside and we love to gaze up at the night sky. We live in a relatively dark area and sky on a clear night is beautiful. While out star gazing, I'm starting to notice something in the atmosphere that I have never noticed before. It is difficult to explain. It looks like the stars go dim for a fraction of a second, like something transparent is coming between my point of view of the section of sky I'm watching. This phenomenon travels across the night sky like the aurora borealis. More like the opposite of the borealis because the sky dims. I hope this makes some sense because it's difficult to describe. I don't think I'm seeing things because I see it almost every time I stare at the night sky. I only see it at night and not all the time. I live in the southern part of the US. My wife hasn't see this yet, though I have tried to show her. Has anyone else seen this or am I loosing my marbles?

 

[mkrnhr]

Hi Mickael,
I don't know what exactly you saw, but one plausible hypothesis is the presence of some high altitude clouds that are translated by the wind along your field of view. You don't see the cloud by night but you see some weakening of the stars brillance. Could it be this?

 

[DJM]

I thought the same at first. What I'm seeing is moving way too fast to be clouds in the upper atmosphere. I also thought it may be tear fluid lubricating my eyes but then again, I don't see this every time I look at the night sky. I'm wondering if it has any relation to the hurricane brewing off our coast or something else is going on. Go out on a clear night, lay in a lounge chair or spread out a blanket on the ground and lay on your back. Find a nice dark area of the sky with lots of stars and watch. If no one else is seeing this, then its only logical that my mind or eyes are playing tricks on me.

 

[T.C.]

Hi Michael

What you describe reminds me of what I was told as a child about why stars "twinkle". That they're just disturbed by the Earth's atmosphere. That in fact, they don't twinkle at all. The same thing causes the moon to go orange/red when there is a lunar eclipse.

Might not be what you're describing but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

T.C.

 

[mamadrama]

Hi, Michael.

Here are a couple of possibilities:

These are noctilucent clouds that are generally seen in the Arctic regions of Europe and North America but maybe?? they are moving further south these days?

Glowing clouds at the edge of space

Last Updated: 11:01am BST 02/07/2007


Nasa has a new view of enigmatic glowing clouds that may be linked to climate change, reports Roger Highfield

They hover on the edge of space. Thin, wispy clouds, glowing electric blue. Some scientists think these mysterious clouds are seeded by space dust. Others suspect they're a telltale sign of global warming.


One of the first ground sightings of noctilucent clouds in the 2007 season

Sky watchers on Earth see them, too, glowing in the night sky after sunset, although the view from Earth-orbit is better. Now a Nasa satellite has captured the first occurrence this summer of mysterious shiny polar clouds that form 50 miles above Earth's surface.

The first observations of these noctilucent or "night-shining" clouds has been made by a satellite named "AIM" which means Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, the first satellite mission dedicated to the study of these unusual clouds.

The clouds form in an upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere, called the mesosphere, during the Northern Hemisphere's summer season which began in mid-May and extends through the end of August and are being seen by AIM's instruments more frequently as the season progresses. This is is why they are also called Polar Mesospheric Clouds.

Very little is known about how these clouds form over the poles, why they are being seen more frequently and at lower latitudes than ever before, or why they have been growing brighter.

AIM will observe two complete cloud seasons over both poles, documenting an entire life cycle of the shiny clouds for the first time.

"It is clear that these clouds are changing, a sign that a part of our atmosphere is changing and we do not understand how, why or what it means," said AIM principal investigator James Russell III of Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia.


AIM satellite images showing noctilucent clouds over Arctic regions of Europe and North America
"These observations suggest a connection with global change in the lower atmosphere and could represent an early warning that our Earth environment is being changed."

"This mission is the first mission dedicated to the study of noctilucent clouds," Russell said. "We have observed them with satellites [in the past], and all it's done is left us wanting."

AIM is providing scientists with information about how many of these clouds there are around the world and how different they are including the sizes and shapes of the tiny particles that make them up.

Scientists believe that the shining clouds form at high latitudes early in the season and then move to lower latitudes as time progresses.The AIM science team is studying this new data to understand why these clouds form and vary, and if they may be related to global change.

Once the summer season ends in the Northern Hemisphere around mid- to late August, the Southern Hemisphere spring season starts about three months later in the period around mid- to late November. AIM will then be watching for shining clouds in the Southern Hemisphere from November through mid-March when that season ends.

Or maybe this? Although NASA launched this in 2003 maybe it is still ongoing?

NASA To Launch Glowing Night Clouds
July 23, 2003
by Alan M. MacRobert

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



A previous cloud of glowing TMA released by NASA into the upper atmosphere.
Courtesy NASA / Wallops Flight Facility.If you see weird glowing clouds expanding in a clear sky over the US Eastern Seaboard tonight (Sunday June 29th), relax. They're not UFO exhaust or a terrorist plot. They are a luminous chemical released by NASA as part of an experiment to trace winds in the Earth's ionosphere. If conditions for the experiment are poor tonight (as they have been for the last several nights), the launches will be rescheduled for tomorrow night, or the next, up to as late as July 10th.

Three sounding rockets will launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, and dump trimethylaluminum (TMA) into the uppermost atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean at altitudes of 90 to 175 kilometers (56 to 110 miles). The releases will occur roughly 60 to 90 minutes apart. A fourth rocket will help track the results. Each milky white cloud should be visible for about 20 minutes from southern New York State to South Carolina and as far west as West Virginia.

"Winds in the ionosphere impact space weather just as the winds on Earth impact our weather," said Gregory Earle (University of Texas, Dallas) in a NASA press release. "Space weather in turn can affect satellites orbiting the Earth and communication and electrical systems on the ground. The clouds will act as a tracer and allow us to view the winds at various altitudes over a period of time."

NASA emphasizes that the TMA is harmless. As it burns and emits light, it is converted to aluminum oxide (an ingredient in antacid pills), carbon dioxide, and water.

UPDATE JUNE 30th: The rockets were finally launched and the experiment successfully carried out last night.

FWIW

 

[grant]

Please forgive me if this question is posted in the wrong forum.

My wife and I smoke outside and we love to gaze up at the night sky. We live in a relatively dark area and sky on a clear night is beautiful. While out star gazing, I'm starting to notice something in the atmosphere that I have never noticed before. It is difficult to explain. It looks like the stars go dim for a fraction of a second, like something transparent is coming between my point of view of the section of sky I'm watching. This phenomenon travels across the night sky like the aurora borealis. More like the opposite of the borealis because the sky dims. I hope this makes some sense because it's difficult to describe. I don't think I'm seeing things because I see it almost every time I stare at the night sky. I only see it at night and not all the time. I live in the southern part of the US. My wife hasn't see this yet, though I have tried to show her. Has anyone else seen this or am I loosing my marbles?

[/colorlll
is it like a mild flash from a camera, that dims rather than brightens? I also live in the sw and have seen this effect many times!

 

[DJM]

I think Laurel may have hit on something with the noctilucent clouds. Since we live pretty far south, the clouds may not be entirely visible from my point of view. Perhaps what I am seeing is part of or related to the noctilucent clouds. It might even be heat waves in the atmosphere. I'll wait till the weather begins to cool down to see if the effect is worse or better.

Thanks for the help all. I was beginning to question my sanity :)