ASTRO:NOCTILUCENT CLOUD

I hope this is considered astro related, as they do seem to form near the
edge of space. I managed to spot my first noctilucent clouds of this year
last night 27 / 28 at about 23:15 UT, here in the UK. I spotted my first
NLC's last year and this was the best display I've seen so far. Looking at
the reports ( http://www.nlcnet.co.uk/nlcreps.htm ) this year has been quite
active so far. The bright star to the right of centre just above the NLC is
Capella.
Regards

Azz

"Azz" wrote in message
...
I hope this is considered astro related, as they do seem to form near the
edge of space. I managed to spot my first noctilucent clouds of this year
last night 27 / 28 at about 23:15 UT, here in the UK. I spotted my first
NLC's last year and this was the best display I've seen so far. Looking at
the reports ( http://www.nlcnet.co.uk/nlcreps.htm ) this year has been
quite
active so far. The bright star to the right of centre just above the NLC
is
Capella.
Regards

Azz




that's nice Azz

here's a writeup on them from Wikipedia:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_clouds

Noctilucent cloud
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Noctilucent clouds)
Jump to: navigation, search

Noctilucent clouds over Lake Saimaa.
Abbreviation NLC/PMC
Altitude 85,000 m
(300,000 ft)
Classification Other
Precipitation Cloud? No

Noctilucent clouds, also known as polar mesospheric clouds, are bright
cloudlike atmospheric phenomena visible in a deep twilight. The name means
roughly "night shining" in Latin. They are most commonly observed in the
summer months at latitudes between 50° and 70° north and south of the
equator.

They are the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere, located in the
mesosphere at altitudes of around 85 km, and are visible only when
illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon while the ground and lower
layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth's shadow; otherwise they are too
faint to be seen. Noctilucent clouds are not fully understood meteorological
phenomena. Clouds generally are not able to reach such high altitudes,
especially under such thin air pressures.

As an explanation, it was once proposed that they were composed of volcanic
or meteoric dust, but they are now known to be primarily composed of water
ice (confirmed by UARS). They appear to be a relatively recent
phenomenon-they were first reported in 1885, shortly after the eruption of
Krakatoa-and it has been suggested that they may be related to climate
change. At least one researcher, Dr. Michael Stevens of the United States
Naval Research Laboratory, believes space shuttle exhaust may contribute to
the formation of noctilucent clouds. Imaging has also shown that some debris
clouds from various space disasters have been mistaken for noctilucent
clouds. [1]

Noctilucent clouds can be studied from the ground, from space, and in situ
by sounding rockets; they are too high to be reached by weather balloons.
Noctilucent clouds were first detected from space by an instrument on the
OGO-6 [2] satellite in 1972. More recently they have been extensively
studied by the Swedish satellite Odin [3] launched in 2001. The AIM
satellite mission, launched in 2007, is dedicated to research into
noctilucent clouds.

On August 28, 2006, scientists with the Mars Express mission announced that
they found clouds of carbon dioxide similar to noctilucent clouds over Mars
that extended up to 100 km above the surface of the planet. [4]

Azz wrote:
I hope this is considered astro related, as they do seem to form near the
edge of space. I managed to spot my first noctilucent clouds of this year
last night 27 / 28 at about 23:15 UT, here in the UK. I spotted my first
NLC's last year and this was the best display I've seen so far. Looking at
the reports ( http://www.nlcnet.co.uk/nlcreps.htm ) this year has been quite
active so far. The bright star to the right of centre just above the NLC is
Capella.
Regards

Azz


At 47 north I haven't seen these yet, guess I should start looking.
While circumpolar here Capella would be much lower so the clouds would
be below my horizon unless they move farther south.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Azz, I saw some pretty nice ones three years ago in Ireland, picture is
attached (actually a repost as I posted it in this group before).

Stefan

Thanks Richard. It's very similar to aurora observing, the clouds move and
there are at least 4 different types. Here's a link to an image from space
of NLC
http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod200...firstlight.jpg

Regards

Azz

"Richard Crisp" wrote in message
.. .

"Azz" wrote in message
...
I hope this is considered astro related, as they do seem to form near the
edge of space. I managed to spot my first noctilucent clouds of this year
last night 27 / 28 at about 23:15 UT, here in the UK. I spotted my first
NLC's last year and this was the best display I've seen so far. Looking
at
the reports ( http://www.nlcnet.co.uk/nlcreps.htm ) this year has been
quite
active so far. The bright star to the right of centre just above the NLC
is
Capella.
Regards

Azz




that's nice Azz

here's a writeup on them from Wikipedia:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_clouds

Noctilucent cloud
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Noctilucent clouds)
Jump to: navigation, search

Noctilucent clouds over Lake Saimaa.
Abbreviation NLC/PMC
Altitude 85,000 m
(300,000 ft)
Classification Other
Precipitation Cloud? No

Noctilucent clouds, also known as polar mesospheric clouds, are bright
cloudlike atmospheric phenomena visible in a deep twilight. The name means
roughly "night shining" in Latin. They are most commonly observed in the
summer months at latitudes between 50° and 70° north and south of the
equator.

They are the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere, located in the
mesosphere at altitudes of around 85 km, and are visible only when
illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon while the ground and lower
layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth's shadow; otherwise they are too
faint to be seen. Noctilucent clouds are not fully understood
meteorological phenomena. Clouds generally are not able to reach such high
altitudes, especially under such thin air pressures.

As an explanation, it was once proposed that they were composed of
volcanic or meteoric dust, but they are now known to be primarily composed
of water ice (confirmed by UARS). They appear to be a relatively recent
phenomenon-they were first reported in 1885, shortly after the eruption of
Krakatoa-and it has been suggested that they may be related to climate
change. At least one researcher, Dr. Michael Stevens of the United States
Naval Research Laboratory, believes space shuttle exhaust may contribute
to the formation of noctilucent clouds. Imaging has also shown that some
debris clouds from various space disasters have been mistaken for
noctilucent clouds. [1]

Noctilucent clouds can be studied from the ground, from space, and in situ
by sounding rockets; they are too high to be reached by weather balloons.
Noctilucent clouds were first detected from space by an instrument on the
OGO-6 [2] satellite in 1972. More recently they have been extensively
studied by the Swedish satellite Odin [3] launched in 2001. The AIM
satellite mission, launched in 2007, is dedicated to research into
noctilucent clouds.

On August 28, 2006, scientists with the Mars Express mission announced
that they found clouds of carbon dioxide similar to noctilucent clouds
over Mars that extended up to 100 km above the surface of the planet. [4]

I'm only at 53 degrees N, so certainly worth keeping an eye out to the north
before retiring for the night, as I did on this occasion. They do say
anywhere above around 40 degrees Lat has the potential to see the clouds, I
think so far this year Europe seems to have been favoured. Hope to see a
picture from you soon.
Even though I rarely post anymore, I'm always impressed with your images.

Regards

Azz

"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
...


Azz wrote:
I hope this is considered astro related, as they do seem to form near the
edge of space. I managed to spot my first noctilucent clouds of this year
last night 27 / 28 at about 23:15 UT, here in the UK. I spotted my first
NLC's last year and this was the best display I've seen so far. Looking
at the reports ( http://www.nlcnet.co.uk/nlcreps.htm ) this year has been
quite active so far. The bright star to the right of centre just above
the NLC is Capella.
Regards

Azz


At 47 north I haven't seen these yet, guess I should start looking. While
circumpolar here Capella would be much lower so the clouds would be below
my horizon unless they move farther south.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Lovely image Stefan, Ireland does seem to be favoured, looking at reports
this year shows a lot of sightings. I'll keep an eye out, I think they
sometimes die off in the second half of summer and now is the favoured time
to see them compared to say August.

Regards

Azz

"Stefan Lilge" wrote in message
...
Azz, I saw some pretty nice ones three years ago in Ireland, picture is
attached (actually a repost as I posted it in this group before).

Stefan

Glad you like them. I've got one from a low declination I'm fighting
the color on. Haze fogged the red images and I'm having trouble
compensating. I'm about to give up. Doubt I'll get seeing good enough
to try again on it.

I was wondering what had happened to you. I have a lot of your posts in
my files here. Get back imaging again.

My skies here are such that I can't see low to the north at all. 20
degrees up in the NW is the best I can do and that's if I stand on the
roof of the observatory. Hard to hold a camera steady there. In winter
I can take a tripod out onto the lake though if it is at all windy the
ice moves up and down. I found that out trying to take Comet McNaught
last winter. I need 2 second exposures and while I didn't think
anything moved the results were awful. That ice goes up and down even
when 30" thick I discovered. In summer I'd have to boat about 3 miles
to find a dock with a good view to the north and even then, lakes are in
holes, so 5 degrees is a "low" horizon. But I can look for them by boat
though the mosquitoes may be a bit thick that time of night. That's why
I image from inside the house, winter or summer. Tried it outside last
spring with the 6" f/4 and each night I'd turn the laptop upside down an
a few zillion midge bodies would fall out of the keyboard. I'd have to
quit when the keyboard started to lose keys due to those midge flies. A
vacuum would suck them out but figured before long they'd kill it
entirely so now have an ethernet cable to the observatory and work from
the house. I only go out if something seems wrong -- like where'd the
stars go? Twice now I suddenly lost them and went out to find it
raining! I have to get a cloud sensor.

Rick


Azz wrote:

I'm only at 53 degrees N, so certainly worth keeping an eye out to the north
before retiring for the night, as I did on this occasion. They do say
anywhere above around 40 degrees Lat has the potential to see the clouds, I
think so far this year Europe seems to have been favoured. Hope to see a
picture from you soon.
Even though I rarely post anymore, I'm always impressed with your images.

Regards

Azz

"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
...


Azz wrote:

I hope this is considered astro related, as they do seem to form near the
edge of space. I managed to spot my first noctilucent clouds of this year
last night 27 / 28 at about 23:15 UT, here in the UK. I spotted my first
NLC's last year and this was the best display I've seen so far. Looking
at the reports ( http://www.nlcnet.co.uk/nlcreps.htm ) this year has been
quite active so far. The bright star to the right of centre just above
the NLC is Capella.
Regards

Azz


At 47 north I haven't seen these yet, guess I should start looking. While
circumpolar here Capella would be much lower so the clouds would be below
my horizon unless they move farther south.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Hi Rick
I hope you manage to get something out of them, I'm always impressed with
your results, especially when you describe the conditions they have been
taken under. I think your dark sky conditions allows you to push the
processing more than I would be able to here. Or allow you not to have to
push as much to get a decent signal level and not have to be fighting the
noise. I know on the few nights I've had really dark skies and good
transparency ( usually after a blow from the North), the processing always
seems easier to achieve a half decent result. I never seem to have ( or
make) the time to process my images and end up rushing, usually only trying
one method. I only do B / W, so haven't got the extra headaches you have
with the colour filters. I'm still struggling with white light.
I'm struggling with an under performing G11, I use to use a Meade LX200,
I purchased a second hand G11, took the OTA off the LX and was hoping for
better results with the G11. I was initially happy but started chasing for
better tracking. I was initially using a separate guide scope and with the
mirror flop issues, a lot of images in a sequence were ruined by mirror
flop, were the guiding hadn't been that bad through the guidescope. I moved
from my SX camera to a SBIG ST9 with built in guider, allowing me to use the
same optical train, but this hasn't helped as much as I'd hoped. I bought an
AO-7 thinking this was the solution to my tracking problems, but this
resulted in worse star shapes than without it. So I spent last summer
stripping the mount cleaning everything, degreasing everything, then spent
several nights adjusting the worm meshes on both axis and found nothing had
changed, so I lost heart a bit last year. Last time I was under the stars in
the observatory was last November. I took some images, but was really just
messing around as the chip had frost on it. I find with the ST9 if you leave
it for a while, the desiccant needs re charging quite often, regular use and
it might last close to a year. The mount is again in bits and I'm trying to
think of ways and monitoring a thread on one of the groups about a new
improved mesh system that should improve the tracking performance. I am
hopefully of getting out under the stars again in the autumn. The sky is
just too bright at the moment and it's late when twilight comes around as
well.
I'm lucky, the photograph I showed of the NLC the other day is from the
field at the back of the house. Looking North looks directly over the local
village, as in the picture. I'm also in a valley which opens to the sea in a
NNW direction, so there nothing really to obscure the Northern horizon.
There is enough light pollution to be annoying, so when I built my
observatory, I put the warm room on the North side and can only just see
Polaris with the scope, everything below that is hidden by the fixed roof.
When I had the LX fork mounted, I couldn't see Polaris through the scope,
the GEM changed that for me. I would imagine you miss most of the aurora
displays as well with your Northern Horizon being blocked.
The movement on the ice sounds very unnerving, I think I'd stay on the
land myself. I know when I go fishing and get attacked by the midges as dusk
approaches it's horrendous and results in a quick get away, so I don't blame
you. I've been caught out by quick heavy showers moving through. On one
occasion the telescope room looked more like a paddling pool, I was lucky
that nothing electrical blew that night, it did leave a water mark on my
guider scope lens though. I've always been a lot more careful after that
night. I have a LAN connection to my house PC but only use it for
transferring the images over to the house at the end of the session for
processing.

Regards
Azz



Glad you like them. I've got one from a low declination I'm fighting the
color on. Haze fogged the red images and I'm having trouble compensating.
I'm about to give up. Doubt I'll get seeing good enough to try again on
it.

I was wondering what had happened to you. I have a lot of your posts in
my files here. Get back imaging again.

My skies here are such that I can't see low to the north at all. 20
degrees up in the NW is the best I can do and that's if I stand on the
roof of the observatory. Hard to hold a camera steady there. In winter I
can take a tripod out onto the lake though if it is at all windy the ice
moves up and down. I found that out trying to take Comet McNaught last
winter. I need 2 second exposures and while I didn't think anything moved
the results were awful. That ice goes up and down even when 30" thick I
discovered. In summer I'd have to boat about 3 miles to find a dock with
a good view to the north and even then, lakes are in holes, so 5 degrees
is a "low" horizon. But I can look for them by boat though the mosquitoes
may be a bit thick that time of night. That's why I image from inside the
house, winter or summer. Tried it outside last spring with the 6" f/4 and
each night I'd turn the laptop upside down an a few zillion midge bodies
would fall out of the keyboard. I'd have to quit when the keyboard
started to lose keys due to those midge flies. A vacuum would suck them
out but figured before long they'd kill it entirely so now have an
ethernet cable to the observatory and work from the house. I only go out
if something seems wrong -- like where'd the stars go? Twice now I
suddenly lost them and went out to find it raining! I have to get a cloud
sensor.

Rick


Azz wrote:

I'm only at 53 degrees N, so certainly worth keeping an eye out to the
north before retiring for the night, as I did on this occasion. They do
say anywhere above around 40 degrees Lat has the potential to see the
clouds, I think so far this year Europe seems to have been favoured. Hope
to see a picture from you soon.
Even though I rarely post anymore, I'm always impressed with your images.

Regards

Azz

"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
...


Azz wrote:

I hope this is considered astro related, as they do seem to form near
the edge of space. I managed to spot my first noctilucent clouds of this
year last night 27 / 28 at about 23:15 UT, here in the UK. I spotted my
first NLC's last year and this was the best display I've seen so far.
Looking at the reports ( http://www.nlcnet.co.uk/nlcreps.htm ) this year
has been quite active so far. The bright star to the right of centre
just above the NLC is Capella.
Regards

Azz


At 47 north I haven't seen these yet, guess I should start looking. While
circumpolar here Capella would be much lower so the clouds would be below
my horizon unless they move farther south.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

I spent most of my life fighting my mount. First a Cave mount made for
visual work. Periodic error was measured in tens of minutes! But by
hitting the guider buttons once a second I got a few good shots. Then I
used a home made mount based on a 50mm OGS mount and the same Mathis
gears used by OGS. That reduced the error to about +/-4 seconds making
longer exposures possible but this was still in the days of AC drives so
I had to have a good home made inverter to haul around and declination
gears weren't all that great with lots of backlash. Then a tree through
the roof wiped out all but a couple of my photos. That was about 16
years ago. Then I went into a funk and did no more imaging as the
digital age swept by me. I did get an ST-4 (still have it) but never
got it to work well with that mount with all the backlash in
declination. So when I retired I finally had the time (and kids through
school making for extra money in the budget) to finally do it right.
First came the Paramount ME. I had it for two years, and three price
hikes, before I built the observatory. But no way was I going to fight
a mount after nearly 50 years of doing just that! That killed much of
the budget so had to go with a "cheap" scope like the LX200R I use
rather than better designs but with my seeing I doubt I'd gain a thing
other than a thin wallet so that worked out pretty well.

Now taking the image is so easy its child's play. After its latest
tweaks it will track perfectly for 10 minutes binned 1x1 and for 20
binned 2x2 without any guiding. So I just focus on a handy star. Set
the temperature compensation so I never have to refocus all night. Then
type in my object. Set the directory to save the images and click the
"Take Color" button. I then go off and do other things for a couple
hours. No more pressing the wrong guider button an hour into a shot
ruining the whole night. Though I sometimes come back and find the last
frames lost to clouds as the cool air often condenses fog or low clouds
putting an end to the night's activities. Other times you see one color
or another with less data due to those clouds.

Like you I hate the processing side. I keep losing track and forgetting
about images I've taken. Took so few a month on film that never
happened. Now it happens all the time, much to my amazement. I even
started a list of taken objects to process but fail to record some and
they fall between the cracks. Never expected that problem!

I now use Photoshop for almost all my processing. I should try some LR
deconvolution first but never seem to take the time.

Stefan seems to be fighting his G11 as well. I know a fellow about 90
miles from here who is also fighting his. Seems a sudden shift in their
quality control. I had lined up a scope on one for use in Australia but
it was cloudy the entire time so never got a chance to see how it
worked. The owner said it was a dream to use and had a lot of good
shots with it. Maybe they only work well turning "backwards".

Aurora's here, often cover the entire sky so not seeing north isn't a
problem. I can't reach Polaris due to two 100' pines. They keep the
heavy snow off the observatory roof allowing me to work in winter. Cut
them down and I'd have so much snow on the roof (not last year's
snowless winter) I'd drop it all into the observatory each time I rolled
the roof. Vibration would trigger an avalanche right on top of the
scope. So the trees stay and I do without seeing within 15 degrees of
the pole. A few things I'd like to catch there but they'll not donate
any photons to my CCD.

Sun here gets below astronomical twilight for a bit each night barely
enough to catch one object. But clouds have made anything a two or
three night affair of late. But it is only a degree below that so
moving north to your latitude it never would get there. On the other
hand, come winter I can start imaging before supper!

Hope you can get that mount working again. I played with that Cave
mount's worm trying to improve things and only made them worse. Finally
broke down and put in a 4" Byer's drive (still AC) 20 years ago. That
helped a lot but found the bearings were not all that great and now I
saw how they were out of round. Gave up on it after that and built that
OGS clone.

Good luck with the mount.

Rick

Azz wrote:
Hi Rick
I hope you manage to get something out of them, I'm always impressed with
your results, especially when you describe the conditions they have been
taken under. I think your dark sky conditions allows you to push the
processing more than I would be able to here. Or allow you not to have to
push as much to get a decent signal level and not have to be fighting the
noise. I know on the few nights I've had really dark skies and good
transparency ( usually after a blow from the North), the processing always
seems easier to achieve a half decent result. I never seem to have ( or
make) the time to process my images and end up rushing, usually only trying
one method. I only do B / W, so haven't got the extra headaches you have
with the colour filters. I'm still struggling with white light.
I'm struggling with an under performing G11, I use to use a Meade LX200,
I purchased a second hand G11, took the OTA off the LX and was hoping for
better results with the G11. I was initially happy but started chasing for
better tracking. I was initially using a separate guide scope and with the
mirror flop issues, a lot of images in a sequence were ruined by mirror
flop, were the guiding hadn't been that bad through the guidescope. I moved
from my SX camera to a SBIG ST9 with built in guider, allowing me to use the
same optical train, but this hasn't helped as much as I'd hoped. I bought an
AO-7 thinking this was the solution to my tracking problems, but this
resulted in worse star shapes than without it. So I spent last summer
stripping the mount cleaning everything, degreasing everything, then spent
several nights adjusting the worm meshes on both axis and found nothing had
changed, so I lost heart a bit last year. Last time I was under the stars in
the observatory was last November. I took some images, but was really just
messing around as the chip had frost on it. I find with the ST9 if you leave
it for a while, the desiccant needs re charging quite often, regular use and
it might last close to a year. The mount is again in bits and I'm trying to
think of ways and monitoring a thread on one of the groups about a new
improved mesh system that should improve the tracking performance. I am
hopefully of getting out under the stars again in the autumn. The sky is
just too bright at the moment and it's late when twilight comes around as
well.
I'm lucky, the photograph I showed of the NLC the other day is from the
field at the back of the house. Looking North looks directly over the local
village, as in the picture. I'm also in a valley which opens to the sea in a
NNW direction, so there nothing really to obscure the Northern horizon.
There is enough light pollution to be annoying, so when I built my
observatory, I put the warm room on the North side and can only just see
Polaris with the scope, everything below that is hidden by the fixed roof.
When I had the LX fork mounted, I couldn't see Polaris through the scope,
the GEM changed that for me. I would imagine you miss most of the aurora
displays as well with your Northern Horizon being blocked.
The movement on the ice sounds very unnerving, I think I'd stay on the
land myself. I know when I go fishing and get attacked by the midges as dusk
approaches it's horrendous and results in a quick get away, so I don't blame
you. I've been caught out by quick heavy showers moving through. On one
occasion the telescope room looked more like a paddling pool, I was lucky
that nothing electrical blew that night, it did leave a water mark on my
guider scope lens though. I've always been a lot more careful after that
night. I have a LAN connection to my house PC but only use it for
transferring the images over to the house at the end of the session for
processing.

Regards
Azz




Glad you like them. I've got one from a low declination I'm fighting the
color on. Haze fogged the red images and I'm having trouble compensating.
I'm about to give up. Doubt I'll get seeing good enough to try again on
it.

I was wondering what had happened to you. I have a lot of your posts in
my files here. Get back imaging again.

My skies here are such that I can't see low to the north at all. 20
degrees up in the NW is the best I can do and that's if I stand on the
roof of the observatory. Hard to hold a camera steady there. In winter I
can take a tripod out onto the lake though if it is at all windy the ice
moves up and down. I found that out trying to take Comet McNaught last
winter. I need 2 second exposures and while I didn't think anything moved
the results were awful. That ice goes up and down even when 30" thick I
discovered. In summer I'd have to boat about 3 miles to find a dock with
a good view to the north and even then, lakes are in holes, so 5 degrees
is a "low" horizon. But I can look for them by boat though the mosquitoes
may be a bit thick that time of night. That's why I image from inside the
house, winter or summer. Tried it outside last spring with the 6" f/4 and
each night I'd turn the laptop upside down an a few zillion midge bodies
would fall out of the keyboard. I'd have to quit when the keyboard
started to lose keys due to those midge flies. A vacuum would suck them
out but figured before long they'd kill it entirely so now have an
ethernet cable to the observatory and work from the house. I only go out
if something seems wrong -- like where'd the stars go? Twice now I
suddenly lost them and went out to find it raining! I have to get a cloud
sensor.

Rick


Azz wrote:


I'm only at 53 degrees N, so certainly worth keeping an eye out to the
north before retiring for the night, as I did on this occasion. They do
say anywhere above around 40 degrees Lat has the potential to see the
clouds, I think so far this year Europe seems to have been favoured. Hope
to see a picture from you soon.
Even though I rarely post anymore, I'm always impressed with your images.

Regards

Azz

"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
...


Azz wrote:


I hope this is considered astro related, as they do seem to form near
the edge of space. I managed to spot my first noctilucent clouds of this
year last night 27 / 28 at about 23:15 UT, here in the UK. I spotted my
first NLC's last year and this was the best display I've seen so far.
Looking at the reports ( http://www.nlcnet.co.uk/nlcreps.htm ) this year
has been quite active so far. The bright star to the right of centre
just above the NLC is Capella.
Regards

Azz


At 47 north I haven't seen these yet, guess I should start looking. While
circumpolar here Capella would be much lower so the clouds would be below
my horizon unless they move farther south.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".