Vectis Astronomical Society invites Islanders to a talk on noctilucent clouds later this month.
Canadian astronomer Mark Zalcik will share decades of research into these rare summer phenomena.
About the talk
Summer is the time for garden barbecues, but it is also the time to catch noctilucent clouds (NLCs)! These beautiful mesospheric ice clouds grace our twilight skies from the end of May to mid-August. Intriguingly, they were first seen only in 1885.
We venture to Germany and other countries in Europe to see how the phenomenon came to be during that fateful Summer. We then switch to North America to find out when they first saw NLC.
Lastly, we look at a couple of recent studies from North America dealing with factors determining how many noctilucent cloud displays an observer sees each season.
About the speaker
Mark Zalcik saw his first display of noctilucent clouds in 1977, after learning about them months earlier at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in Edmonton, Canada, where he lives.
In 1988 he started the NLC CAN AM surveillance network to keep track of the clouds in North America. In the ensuing 38 years, after many observations from many sources, much has been learned about this mysterious phenomenon.
The hosts
The Vectis Astronomical Society meets on the 4th Friday of most months, excluding December.
The talks are open for non-members to attend. We have a suggested donation of £3 for non-members of VAS.
The speakers come from all over the UK and beyond and give a presentation for around 45-60 minutes, with a chance for questions and answers afterwards.
Book your tickets
“The Summer of ’85 and the New Phenomenon of Noctilucent Clouds” by Mark Zalcik takes place on Friday 24th July at 7.30pm via Zoom.
You can view it online via Zoom or at Newchurch Pavilion, Watery Lane, Newchurch (nearest postcode PO36 0LX).
For non-members of VAS, tickets to view online, may be obtained from Eventbrite.
News shared by Julia on behalf of Vectis Astronomical Society. Ed
