Skymet weather

Antarctica gets glowy blue as ice clouds occur

December 6, 2016 4:24 PM |

Antarctica Sky Glows Blue

Some strange activity was observed in the skies of Antarctica recently. It was sparkling blue flashes oscillating around the dark South Pole like an electrified iris around a pupil.

The sources of these odd flashes are noctilucent ice clouds, which occurs under firm atmospheric conditions and happens only one or two times in a year.

Noctilucent ice clouds forms by fine debris from crumbling meteors. They’re like bright, shocking blue when they reflect sunlight.

This year, they’ve come a bit early. The sparkly lights were first recorded around November 17. This is tied with 2013 for the earliest Southern Hemisphere season.

As per researchers, the Southern Hemisphere polar stratospheric winds have switched to their summer-like state pretty early this year.

Noctilucent ice clouds form in the mesosphere, almost 50 miles above the Earth's surface. For the formation of these clouds, the temperatures should be below minus-207 degrees Fahrenheit. When the condition is just right, tiny cubic ice crystals forms at latitudes greater than 40 degrees.

Increasing methane content in the atmosphere could be responsible for the early onset this year, as it allows more water vapor to be loaded into ice crystals hence leading to the formation of these clouds.

According to NASA, changes in one region of the atmosphere can influence responses in another region as well. The scientists call this phenomenon as atmospheric teleconnection.

Besides, appearing earlier in the year, noctilucent clouds have spread to regions beyond the poles.

When noctilucent clouds first appeared in the 19th century, one had to travel to Polar Regions to see them. Since the turn of the century, they have been sighted near to the equator as Colorado and Utah.

Image Credit: nasa.com

 






For accurate weather forecast and updates, download Skymet Weather (Android App | iOS App) App.

Other Latest Stories







latest news

Skymet weather

Download the Skymet App

Our app is available for download so give it a try