Noctilucent Clouds

A few days ago there was an article posted on 9news about noctilucent cloud sightings. Apparently this particular cloud that is usually only seen between 50 and 70 degrees latitude have been seen much further south than normal... and with that the experts are telling us to keep an eye to the sky during the early evening hours.

They are the highest clouds in the atmosphere (some 40+ miles above the earths surface), and are composed of ice crystals. They become visible during twilight when illuminated from below by the setting sun, when the lower atmosphere is shaded by the earth's shadow.

Scientists have struggled to explain these clouds. The first time anyone recorded seeing them was in 1885, coinciding with the industrial revolution. Many believe that global climate change has led to not only an increase in frequency of this phenomena, but also possibly why they are being spotted much further south than ever before.

Anyway - keep your eyes to the skies during the late twilight hours, you never know what you will see! I think Denver is just a little too far south for seeing them... but you never know.