They appear as the summer solstice approaches... What are the luminous blue clouds?

2024-05-29 2024-05-29T09:23:21Z

Arabia Weather - As the summer solstice approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, a beautiful phenomenon is observed above the pole, where ice crystals form and adhere to the remains of meteor dust, resulting in electric blue clouds that sparkle in the sky as the sun sets.

What is the summer solstice and when does it occur?

This is what the Jeddah astronomer said about the beginning of the 2024 season of bright night clouds

Engineer Majid Abu Zahra, President of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, explained that these clouds are known as luminous night clouds, and are usually seen at high latitudes, which makes their vision in the Arab world impossible. These clouds usually appear in late May or early June.

He added that the luminous night clouds are “electrified” blue ice clusters floating on the edge of space, and are being studied by NASA’s “IM” spacecraft, which is mapping their appearance around the North and South Poles. He explained that for a long time it was not known how these clouds are formed, But recent data indicate that they form when the upper atmosphere is cold, allowing ice crystals to form around meteor smoke, and it has been shown that about 3% of each ice crystal in these clouds consists of meteor dust.

He pointed out that since the nineteenth century, these clouds have been observed in the Arctic regions, but in recent years they have been observed in areas far to the south, and it is believed that the reason for this is due to climate change and the increase in methane gas.

He explained that the blue color of these clouds is due to the small size of the ice crystals, as small particles scatter the short wavelengths of blue light more strongly than the long wavelengths of red light, and when sunlight hits these clouds, the blue light scatters towards the Earth.