Our cover picture ...
... shows what at first glance appear to be noctilucent clouds. Surprisingly, however, this picture was taken on the evening of 21 October 2011 in Neuhaus in Germany. According to the usual theories on the formation of noctilucent clouds, no NLCs are expected at this time of year in these latitudes. These clouds were observed in central and southern Germany, in the Czech Republic and in Austria. The adjacent graphic shows the observers' locations. According to the analysis of the observations, these clouds occurred at an altitude of 60 to 70 km, which is also atypical for noctilucent clouds.
Photo: © Rüdiger Manig, Neuhaus, Germany
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