The NDSM site is a district in Amsterdam North, on the former site of the NDSM shipyard.
Luminous night clouds are a type of cloud that occur at an altitude of about 75 to 85 kilometres, much higher than ordinary clouds, which reach an altitude of about 20 kilometres at most. After sunset, those high clouds still reflect sunlight for some time. The ordinary clouds, which we usually see, stick out dark and turn red first and then dark gray after sunset. The shining night clouds then remain white, yellow-orange or light blue.
In May, June and July, the northern sky can be illuminated for a few hours after sunset or before sunrise by these clouds with a silvery sheen. In these months, the sun is low below the northern horizon, so that these clouds are lit up by the sun from below, as it were. The strands of cloud have a ribbed or fibrous structure.
They are quite rare and occur irregularly: sometimes they can be seen several times in one month alone, but many a summer passes without these clouds. In recent years, however, they seem to be more common. Observations in the Netherlands were made in 1988, 1997, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
I'm Jeroen, and I'll spare you the long introduction. ;) If you're looking for a landscape photo for your wall, you've come to the right place... Read more…