Bright blue-white noctilucent clouds danced over the town of Nykøbing Mors in Denmark just before dawn just when this spectacular photo was taken.  Night sky photographer Ruslan Merzlyakov captured a series of nightscape images in the early morning of July 1 With electric-blue clouds swirling overhead the small town is illuminated and the twinkling lights of the quaint skyline are reflected in the calm waters below.  "The whole horizon over Nykøbing Mors from west to east was filled with silver light and it was very bright!" Merzlyakov wrote in an email to Space.com Glowing silver-blue clouds commonly light up summer night skies in the Northern Hemisphere Noctilucent clouds form in an upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere called the mesosphere which is about 50 to 53 miles (80 to 85 kilometers) above ground these rare clouds are high enough to reflect light even after the sun has slipped below the horizon Noctilucent clouds are made of extremely small ice crystals that reflect light and give off a bluish color largely due to the absorption of red light by the stratospheric ozone layer the orange-red glow of the rising sun is visible as it creeps over the horizon which adds contrast and depth to Denmark's summer night sky.  Editor's Note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Samantha MathewsonSocial Links NavigationContributing WriterSamantha Mathewson joined Space.com as an intern in the summer of 2016 in Journalism and Environmental Science at the University of New Haven her work has been published in Nature World News Samantha enjoys traveling to new places and taking photos You can follow her on Twitter @Sam_Ashley13.  These ARE the Lego Star Wars deals you're looking for How to edit a solar eclipse photograph: A step-by-step guide James Webb Space Telescope finds coldest exoplanet ever seen A selection of the winning images from Capture the Atlas travel photography blog’s annual northern lights photographer of the year collection published to coincide with the aurora season and the end of year • This article was amended on 7 December 2022 to clarify that two images feature the southern lights A selection of the winning images from Capture the Atlas travel photography blog’s annual northern lights photographer of the year collection Photograph: MaryBeth Kiczenski/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Virgil Reglioni/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Vincent Beudez/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Unai Larraya/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Tor-Ivar Næss/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Rachel Jones Ross/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Ruslan Merzlyakov/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Jannes Krause/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Luis Solano Pochet/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Giulio Cobianchi/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Douglas Thorne/Milky Way Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Kavan Chay/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Asier López Castro/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: David Erichsen/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Photograph: Nico Rinaldi/Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2022 Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Categories Latest news Noctilucent clouds were observed across large parts of the northern half of Europe Noctilucent clouds are very different from the ‘ordinary’ clouds we are most used to While most clouds form in the lowermost 10 km of our atmosphere at approximately 80 km altitude in the mesosphere They are the highest known clouds in our atmosphere and completely detached from tropospheric clouds sightings of noctilucent clouds were exceedingly rare but they have become much more common in the past several years Brilliant display of noctilucent clouds over Nykøbing Mors, Denmark in the early morning of June 3, 2017. Photo: Ruslan Merzlyakov / RMS Photography They are much too thin and too faint to be visible in the daylight the sky is still dark as the Sun is well below the horizon the Sun had already risen and the clouds are illuminated This viewing geometry produces an amazing sight with the noctilucent clouds shining bright electric white and blue against a still-dark sky the word ‘noctilucent’ translates into ‘night shining’ in Latin The best time to see these clouds is when the Sun is between 16 and 6° below the horizon which is roughly from the start of dawn to the end of nautical twilight Beautiful view of noctilucent clouds over ‘Oisterwijkse Bossen & Vennen’ nature reserve in the south of the Netherlands in the early morning of June 3, 2017. Photo: Gijs de Reijke / Dynamic Landscapes Photography – Gijs de Reijke Noctilucent clouds are composed of very small water droplets The water droplets condense around meteoric dust – meteors form at generally the same altitude as noctilucent clouds give it another try tomorrow and keep going: NLC season will be open for at least 3 more weeks Brilliant display of noctilucent clouds over Almere Noctilucent clouds over Mezőkövesd, Hungary in the early morning of June 3, 2017. Photo: Lázár Endre Photography Noctilucent cloud display over Ireland in the evening of June 2 Noctilucent clouds over Kloster Lehnin/Germany on the evening of July 2 Severe weather outbreak across S Romania and N Bulgaria today Lightning show over the Adriatic sea over the past several days RSS Feed Any time.” © Severe Weather Europe 2023 Sign in Join now, it's FREE! Peder will be deeply missed by his long-time companion and his daughter Dorthea Hangaard.   Remembered fondly by June’s children Alan (Moni) Pettit and Paula Pettit.  Grandfather to Alan Jr. Survived by his sister Vera (Felix) Roggwiller of Switzerland his nieces Tammy (Michael) Ritchie of Barrie and Kirsten Moller-Madsen of Denmark.  Nephews Rick Hangaard of Orillia and Paul Hangaard-Back of Denmark.  Brother-in-law Kaj Moller-Madsen of Denmark.  1934 and in his youth apprenticed as a carpenter in Nykobing Mors.   He immigrated to Canada in 1956 arriving at Pier 21 in Halifax and travelling to Orillia to join his brother Henry and Lagoon City.  He was happiest when helping others or sitting down to a good meal.  Gratitude to the wonderful staff at Lakeview Manor who gave him excellent care and affectionately called him Pop Pop There will be a graveside service in Orillia this summer Peder cared passionately for the environment.  Donations in his memory can be made to The Couchiching Conservancy and will be received by the Doolittle Chapel of Carson Funeral Home Online Messages of Condolence are welcome at www.CarsonFuneralHomes.com Astrophotographer David Peller caught several images of the penumbral lunar Eclipse over Worcester Astrophotographer Ruslan Merzlyakov captured the penumbral lunar eclipse of Oct Nicole Cicchino sent in a photo of the moon during the penumbral lunar eclipse of Oct The full moon will pass through Earth's outer shadow in a penumbral lunar eclipse on Friday, Oct. 18, 2013. See how lunar eclipses work in the infographic above and read more about the Oct. 18 lunar eclipse here This diagram shows how the moon will pass through the Earth's penumbra (shadow) on Oct. 18, 2013. [Read more about the lunar eclipse and see how to watch it online here] This diagram shows where people will be able to see moon will pass through the Earth's penumbra (shadow) on Oct. 18, 2013. [Read more about the lunar eclipse and see how to watch it online here] The moon will pass through the Earth's penumbra on Oct. 18, 2013. This page gives information on times and locations for viewing. [Read more about the lunar eclipse and see how to watch it online here] Space enthusiast Stanislaus Ronny Terence of Chennai took these images of the penumbral lunar eclipse of April 25 chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.  Hubble spies a skewed spiral galaxy | Space photo of the day for May 5 James Webb Space Telescope captures thousands of galaxies in a cosmic 'feast' (image) NASA's Artemis 2 moon rocket gets 2nd stage even as Trump tries to scrap Space Launch System (photos) The Local Europe ABVästmannagatan 43113 25 StockholmSweden Figures from the Danish National Police, Rigspolititet, published by insurance company Gjensidige show that the number fines issued in the locations where the permanent cameras are placed has fallen in recent years fines issued to motorists who pass the cameras in breach of the speed limit provide millions of kroner in revenue for the police with fines issued since 2021 from the cameras totalling 111,182,200 kroner have permanent positions and check the speed of passing cars automatically This distinguishes them from mobile cameras in vans or temporary controls on motorways READ ALSO: How strict are the punishments for driving offences in Denmark? According to Gjensidige’s interpretation of the data there were 42,085 cases of speeding caught by 20 permanent speed cameras in 11 locations 2021 The number fell significantly to 25,753 last year The first four months of this year suggest the trend is continuing “The sections of road with permanent speed cameras were chosen because people drove too fast and there were many accidents When we see such a large fall in speeding incidents on all sections it’s a clear sign that the measure is working which is a very positive thing,” Gjensidige Insurance injuries director Henrik Saglid said in the press release The permanent cameras which pick up the most speeding offences are located in a mixture of rural Denmark has 20 permanent speed cameras in total. They are placed at 11 locations across the country. This is because some locations have cameras in both directions, while others have cameras in a single direction. They were first installed in 2018 and their locations were published by the Danish Roads Directorate (Vejdirektoratet) You can see the locations in the map below Note that the pins on the map represent the road where the camera or cameras are located “Higher speeds increase the risk of accidents and high speed is therefore also the cause of far too many accidents each year,” Saglid said “It’s therefore my hope that awareness on not being flashed by a speed camera will also give more general understanding of the importance of obeying speed limits on sections of road without permanent speed checks,” he said Please log in here to leave a comment