The Moon & Earth Noctilucent Clouds | International Space Station

The Moon & Earth Noctilucent Clouds | International Space Station

Astronaut Matthew Dominick: "A sliver of Moon rises out of noctilucent clouds and appears to look towards the horizon awaiting the imminent sunrise."

Noctilucent clouds, or night shining clouds, are the highest clouds in Earth's atmosphere, composed of tiny water ice crystals, and are only visible when the sun is below the planet's horizon illuminating them.

The Sun’s activity will once again ramp up until solar maximum, predicted for 2025. This high solar activity is warming Earth's upper atmosphere and breaking apart water molecules required to form noctilucent ices. However, for reasons researchers do not fully understand, Solar Max does not always extinguish the clouds. 

Technical details: 1/250s, f5.6, ISO 6400, 170mm (50 to 500mm  lens), cropped

Expedition 71 Updates: 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 71 Crew

Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin (Russia)

NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Astronaut Matthew Dominick

Release Date: July 6, 2024 

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