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Rare blue 'night-shining clouds' pictured at dusk over Edinburgh's landmark rail bridge

Rare blue 'night-shining clouds' pictured at dusk over Edinburgh's landmark rail bridge

By Rob Waugh

PUBLISHED: 08:25 EST, 29 June 2012 | UPDATED: 19:51 EST, 29 June 2012

A photographer caught a glimpse of the most distant clouds in the atmosphere shining an electric blue from 50 miles up as the skies cleared over Edinburgh at dusk this week.

The 'night shining' clouds are normally invisible, but shine at twilight when ice crystals in the high-altitude clouds are lit up by the sun as it sets.

The clouds are especially bright here at the height of Edinburgh's summer.

A photographer in Fife captured the rare clouds over the Forth Rail bridge as the skies cleared after a week of storms.

The clouds are the highest in atmosphere at around 50 miles above the Earth's surface, captured here by photographer Adrian Maricic, from Fife over the Forth Road and rail bridges

The clouds are the highest in atmosphere at around 50 miles above the Earth's surface, captured here by photographer Adrian Maricic, from Fife over the Forth Road and rail bridges

The clouds are the highest in atmosphere at around 50 miles above the Earth's surface.

The 'noctilucent' or 'night shining' clouds are often photographed from aircraft in flight, from the Space Station.

The recent activity has been captured by photographer Adrian Maricic, from Fife over the Forth Road and rail bridges as twilight decended across the Firth of Forth earlier this week.

The clouds - called 'polar mesospheric' clouds or 'noctilucent' clouds are visible in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, and peak during their respective late spring and early summer seasons.

Polar mesospheric clouds form between 47 to 53 miles above Earth’s surface when there is sufficient water vapour at these high altitudes to freeze into ice crystals.

The clouds are illuminated by the Sun when it is just below the visible horizon, lending them their night-shining properties.

Normally too faint to be seen, the clouds are visible only when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon while the lower layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth's shadow

Normally too faint to be seen, the clouds are visible only when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon while the lower layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth's shadow

While the exact cause for the formation of polar mesospheric clouds is still debated - dust from meteors, global warming, and rocket exhaust have all been suggested as contributor - recent research suggests that changes in atmospheric gas composition or temperature has caused the clouds to become brighter over time.

Space Station astronauts also captured images of the clouds earlier this month as the craft passed over the Tibetan Plateau.

The clouds can only be seen from aircraft in flight, from the Space Station, or rarely from the ground at twilight - and shine at night because the ice crystals are lit up by the sun from beneath the visible horizon

The clouds can only be seen from aircraft in flight, from the Space Station, or rarely from the ground at twilight - and shine at night because the ice crystals are lit up by the sun from beneath the visible horizon


In both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, during their respective late spring and early summer seasons, polar mesospheric clouds are at the peak of their visibility

Night-shining clouds seen from County Kerry, Ireland: In both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, during their respective late spring and early summer seasons, polar mesospheric clouds are at the peak of their visibility

The clouds can only be seen from aircraft in flight, from the Space Station, or rarely from the ground at twilight - and shine at night because the ice crystals are lit up by the sun from beneath the visible horizon

The clouds can only be seen from aircraft in flight, from the Space Station, or rarely from the ground at twilight - and shine at night because the ice crystals are lit up by the sun from beneath the visible horizon

Here's what other readers have said. Why not debate this issue live on our message boards.

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Who else was redirected from the camera pill story?

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I've seen these many times, so often I didn't even know this was a big deal. I'll have to pay attention to them next time.

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Oh wow; you guys are so lucky! England is so, so, so beautiful! Wow! - Emilia, Virginia, USA, 29/6/2012 18:47 Oh wow, the USA .... I love it ........ it's such a lovely part of Canada! Doh.

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I clicked on the man who swallowed a camera and got clouds. So where's the intestines I wanted to see? If I'd have wanted clouds I would have clicked on clouds, DM!

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- dan, London - UK, 30/6/2012 20:16: "It's orgasmic :D" ................................ What in the name of god are you doing to yourself?

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Amazing, beautiful pictures.

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explained about Great Britain and the countries that make it up. The American's eyes visibly glazed over - they weren't interested. She just said, 'Whatever', and walked off. I was livid! - Joyce, Ayr, 29/6/2012 20:55 _______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I love Americans, I can play with them all day. The trick is to refer to every American as a yankee. They love that, especially the ones from south of the Mason-Dixon line. If they're northerners, just call them septics and, when asked, tell them it's rhyming slang.

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The UK or GB (whatever you want to call it) consists of Scotland, England Wales, and part of Ireland captcct, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, 30/6/2012 14:57 _______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ No part of Ireland has ever been part of GB. The UK is not only GB. The UK is shorthand for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (and a few more places I won't bore you with). Great Britain (great as in large, not great as in grand) is the larger of the two biggest islands in the group commonly known as the British Isles.

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It's orgasmic :D

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Not Photoshopped - though they need to be there are faults with the pix. Saturation and contrast tweaked a little. The pix are 3 frames, just 2 and 3 are stitched together. The pix are of Fife, just taken from South Queensferry. Fife sits between the Forth estuary and the NLC clouds. In June it never really gets dark here, the 'Blue Hour; lasts all night. Any pix will have that intense blue colour.

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