Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2024 July 9
     [2]A dawn sky is shown that is black at the top and brown near the
    horizon. Wispy clouds converge on the right turning from a white to a
   blue hue. Near the apex of this convergence is a crescent moon. Please
             see the explanation for more detailed information.

                       Noctilucent Clouds over Florida
                    Credit & Copyright: [3]Pascal Fouquet

   Explanation: These clouds are [4]doubly unusual. First, they are rare
   [5]noctilucent clouds, meaning that they are [6]visible at night -- but
   only just before sunrise or just after sunset. Second, the source of
   these [7]noctilucent clouds is actually known. In this rare case, the
   source of the [8]sunlight-reflecting ice-crystals in the [9]upper
   atmosphere can be traced back to the [10]launch of a nearby SpaceX
   rocket about 30 minutes earlier. Known more formally as [11]polar
   mesospheric clouds, the vertex of these icy wisps happens to converge
   just in front of a [12]rising crescent Moon. The featured image -- and
   [13]accompanying video -- were captured over [14]Orlando, [15]Florida,
   [16]USA about a week ago. The bright spot to the right of the Moon is
   the planet [17]Jupiter, while the dotted [18]lights above the horizon
   on the right are from an [19]airplane.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([34]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [35]Specific rights apply.
            [36]NASA Web Privacy, [37]Accessibility, [38]Notices;
                A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC,
                         [42]NASA Science Activation
                           & [43]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2407/NoctilucentFlorida_Pouquet_1966.jpg
   3. https://www.pfphotos.art/about/
   4. https://assets3.thrillist.com/v1/image/2540564/792x594/scale;webp=auto;jpeg_quality=60.jpg
   5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_cloud
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220712.html
   7. https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasa-noctilucent-clouds/
   8. https://www.weather.gov/arx/why_halos_sundogs_pillars
   9. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mesosphere/en/
  10. https://youtu.be/z3yDEVxI5TM
  11. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/80217/polar-mesospheric-clouds-south-pacific-ocean
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211010.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2407/NoctilucentFlorida_Pouquet.mp4
  14. https://youtu.be/an8cAHG-pqs
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida
  16. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/
  17. https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240609.html
  19. https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/VirtualAero/BottleRocket/airplane/airplane.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240708.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  26. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  29. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240709
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240710.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  42. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  43. http://www.mtu.edu/