Bright NLC in moonlight

Looked out the living room window and saw bright noctilucent clouds low in the sky. Packed up cameras etc and jumped in the car and drove off. Chose a place with a low horizon in the north and easy to bring the equipment from the car. When I have just started preparing for the photo I hear steps in the dark and turn on the headlamp and also see a pair of eyes in the dark. After a while I see that it is a deer buck coming straight towards me. He comes very close and looks at me before he heads off, a powerful meeting in the dark.

In the sky the noctilucent clouds are low in the north but they are very bright and beautiful. The moon is up and creates nice moonlight over the landscape. Choose to do some timelapses and macro/widefield pictures, a nice night and the darkness is on its way back.

 

Bright NLC´s

 

Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds in Earth's atmosphere, forming in the mesosphere about 76 to 85 kilometers (50 miles) above the surface.

Meaning "night-shining" in Latin, they appear as electric-blue, silvery, or glowing wisps during summer deep twilight when they are illuminated by the sun from below the horizon.

Noctilucent clouds (NLCs), also called polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) when viewed from space, are a tenuous atmospheric phenomenon. Unlike typical weather clouds that form less than 12 miles above Earth, NLCs occur at the very edge of space.How

For noctilucent clouds to form, three precise ingredients are required:

Extremely Low Temperatures: Temperatures in the mesosphere must drop below -120°C to -140°C.Water

Trace amounts of water vapor must be present.

Tiny dust particles are needed, primarily from micrometeors burning up in the atmosphere.

Water vapor freezes onto the meteoric dust to form microscopic ice crystals, which reflect sunlight. Their striking blue color is a result of the ice crystals scattering sunlight in the upper atmosphere.

Noctilucent clouds are a seasonal and latitudinal phenomenon. They occur only during the summer months when the upper atmosphere above the polar regions experiences its coldest temperatures.

Northern Hemisphere: Best viewed between mid-May and mid-August, primarily at mid-to-high latitudes (roughly 45° to 80° North, including northern Europe, Canada, and the northern United States).

Southern Hemisphere: Best viewed between mid-November and mid-February

Photos taken in Vallentuna Sweden 16-17/7 2026.

Noctlicent clouds and owls

A clear summer night with fog over open areas. Noctilucent Clouds are visible in the sky. All around me I heard screams in the trees and saw several owls, Strix aluco owls, chicks screaming for food. I managed to catch one of them flying between the trees.

Noctilucent Clouds are thin clouds of ice crystals that form at an altitude of 85 kilometers in the mesosphere. They are the highest clouds on Earth and are visible during the summer months when they are illuminated from below by the sun which is then below the horizon

Latest high resolution prints in the webshop

Latest high resolution prints in my webshop www.nattbilder.se

Showing airglow by the sea and fluorescence seaweed.

Milky Way in a nationalpark

Fantastic Noctilucent clouds a summer night

Airglow: Airglow is a faint emission of light by a planetary atmosphere. In the case of Earth's atmosphere, this optical phenomenon causes the night sky never to be completely dark, even after the effects of starlight and diffused sunlight from the far side are removed. This phenomenon originates with self-illuminated gases and has no relationship with Earth's magnetism or sunspot activity, causing aurorae.

 

The veins of heaven - 23rd NASA APOD

I was honored with my 23rd NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) 11 july 2025. It shows beautiful Noctilucent clouds above a local lake near my home in Vallentuna Sweden. 

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250711.html

Crazy Noctilucent clouds

One of the best and wildest NLC displays I´ve seen!

Wow- great NLC with reflections

Wow, such a great Noctilucent clouds display it was tonight! I went to the lake of Vallentuna with very calm water and saw this magic display!

Conjunction and NLC

A very nice sight indeed tonight when the moon and planet Mars came together and at the same time Noctilucent clouds.

Todays APOD - Astronomy Picture of the Day

Today I´m honored with NASAs Astronomy Picture of the Day http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160730.html
The photo shows Noctilucent clouds above Färnebofjärdens Nationalpark Sweden

More Noctilucent clouds

My son noticed some nice Noctilcent clouds from his bedroom so we took a ride to the lake of Vallentuna and checked it out.

Amazing Noctilucent clouds

Amazing structures from some great Noctilucent clouds the other night. High in the sky, zenith, and even in the south! Canon 6D and Nikon 14mm lens.

Noctilucent clouds 2014 the Film

Nattlysande moln 2014 from P-M Hedén on Vimeo.

Todays APOD and some more NLCs

I´m honored with todays Nasa APOD showing my panorama photo of strong NLCs at the island of Gotland. Last couple of nights it has been some more clear nights with NLCs I submit some more photos from these nights.

Strong Noctilucent clouds

One of the strongest displays of Noctilucent clouds I´ve seen a couple of nights ago. It started around midnight and the show just went on to dawn. This photo is taken at the island of Gotland, using a Canon 6D and a 24mm lens.
When many people are sleeping some great shows are going on..nature can for sure bring some good ones.

First really good NLC

First really good Noctilucent clouds display this season so far. It started really slow with just some bright parts low in the sky, later on after midnight it started to grow really fast and ended up with bright and beautiful formations. Photos taken with a Canon 6D, Canon 66D and different focallenghts. (And as usual Blogger edits the photos with sharpness, contrast and light - not good at all!)

First NLC of the season

So, seasons first NLC arrived last night, rather good too. Photo taken by the churchruin of Össeby Garn Vallentuna Sweden.

Perseid Nights

Perseid Nights from P-M Hedén on Vimeo.

Här kommer en liten video som visar några klara nätter under meteorskuren Perseiderna.
Jag hade turen att få uppleva både norrsken och Nattlysande moln vid samma tillfälle samt norrsken flera nätter, rätt mycket för att vara i augusti på dessa breddgrader.
De flesta timelapsen är tagna vid kusten norr om Norrtälje.

A short video showing some clear nights during the Perseid meteorshower.
I was lucky to see both Aurora Borealis and Noctiludent clouds at the same time.

Noctilucent clouds 2013 - The Film

Noctilucent clouds 2013 The Film from P-M Hedén on Vimeo.

Min senaste video som visar Nattlysande moln från denna sommar.
Materialet är taget från juni till slutet av juli och består av 435GB!
Så om du har 8min över så kolla gärna in den..

My latest video showing Noctilucent clouds during this summer.

NLC reflections

Some bright and lovely NLC last night low in the sky but a great view with reflections in a calm Dalriver.

Månuppgång och kraftiga NLC - Moonrise and great NLC

Vilken kväll och natt! Det började med en vacker månuppgång som vi avnjöt med en brasa vid älven. Vid midnatt så såg jag de klassiska vågorna från Nattlysande moln i väster. De avtog efterhand och jag trodde showen var över men icke för senare så växte sig det till sig riktigt fint i NO och

runt 03 så var det över hela himlen - vackert!
Djurliv så klart, en grävling som var lite för nyfiken på mig men jag satte pannlampan i ögonen på honom och han stack. Sedan måste det ha varit sork eller nåt som pep hela natten runt mina fötter.

Lovely moonrise of the fullmoon and great Noctilucent clouds later on!