The 2013 Noctilucent Cloud Season has kicked off to an electric start with a magnificently bright display starting almost immediately after sunset on 30th May. The display continued until the sky lightened after 0230 on 31st, though it was somewhat subdued by this time.
There will doubtless be more of these displays visible during the rest of the season which runs until the beginning of August. Look to the North an hour or so after sunset any time until the oncoming dawn lightens the sky.
These clouds form in the Mesosphere near the pole and are visible due to sunlight reflecting off them from the other sid of the pole. Northern Ireland is an ideal location from which to view them – further north the sky is too light to see them, further south and they are too far away
actionsolar.net. This display was very early and is indicative of a good season to come!
For a few days around Sunday 26th May, a close three-way conjunction of planets Jupiter, Venus and Mercury will be visible in the NW sky for a while shortly after sunset. Venus will be the brightest, followed by Jupiter, but on 26th Mercury will be the highest above the horizon of the three, so if you're part of the estimated 99% of the population who have never seen Mercury, now is possibly the best chance you will get! The three planets will all be within 2 degrees, or four moon diameters of each other and will remain close in the evenings before and after 26th.
As we move into June, Jupiter will sink below the horizon but Venus and Mercury will carry on rising together to be joined by the Crescent Moon on 9th and 10th Mercury reaches it greatest altitude on 8th and 9th then moves back towards the Sun.
The usual safety consideration applies – do not start to look for these planets until the Sun is very definitely below the horizon!
Astronomy in Northern Ireland and Beyond
