Access
This article is part of Nature's premium content.
Published online 11 December 2007 | Nature 450, 927 (2007) | doi:10.1038/450927a
News
Enigmatic clouds illuminated
Satellite data shed light on twilight skies.
SAN FRANCISCO New findings from the edge of space are unmasking Earth's highest clouds.
A NASA satellite called Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) is sending back the first detailed information on the 'noctilucent' clouds, which shimmer overhead just after sundown at high latitudes, where they reflect the below-horizon Sun.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Comments
Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email redesign@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.
I would love to know whether the increase in noctilucent clouds that is occurring (possibly due to greenhouse gases) might have an influence on global warming (either as an accelerant or as a negative feedback)
For those who may be interested, this study may also be relevant to the creationist viewpoint, as the increase in these high-altitude clouds is consistent with the atmospheric system demonstrating a designed stabilization pattern slowly (perhaps asymptotically) driving the upper atmosphere back towards its original state after the global catastrophe of a few thousand years ago. Then again, maybe it's another sign that we humans are destroying our environment and the end of the world is near?
What 'global catastrophe a few thousand years ago'?