Noctilucent clouds at d'Admiraal by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

About "Noctilucent clouds at d'Admiraal"

by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

About the artwork

Noctilucent clouds are a type of clouds that occur at about 75 to 85 kilometers altitude, much higher than ordinary clouds, which reach an altitude of about 20 kilometers at most. After sunset, those high clouds reflect sunlight for a while. The normal clouds, that we usually see, are in a darker colour and turn first red and then dark grey after sunset. The shining night clouds remain white, yellow-orange or light blue. The stars remain visible in these thin clouds.

In May, June and July, the northern sky may be lit up by these clouds with a silvery sheen for some time after sunset or before sunrise. In these months the sun is low below the northern horizon, so these clouds are lit by the sun from below, as it were. The cloud strands 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 them.

d'Admiraal is a chalk and mesh mill near Buiksloot in Amsterdam on the Noordhollands Kanaal (district North). This mill is the last remaining example of this type. On the beard it says 1792 and on the back beard d'admiral. The mill was built in 1792/1793 by Symon Krol for Roelof de Leeuw. Roelof de Leeuw was married to Elisabeth Admiraal, a descendant of Cornelis Dirkszoon, a mayor of Monnikendam who, at the head of a troop of Water-beggars, defeated the Count of Bossu in the Battle of the Zuiderzee in 1573. His nickname "the admiral" later became the fa