Enchanted Evening Sky.

I have stated numerous times in the past how much I love the month of June. I love this month due so many reasons.
I relish in its youth - as it is the first month of the summer.
I relish in its bloom - as it is the month when all my fragrant shrubs and bushes bloom.
And most of all - I relish in its light - as it it is the month of white nights and the summer solstice.

I am summer child and as such I am vivacious and full of life and passion. I also hold a certain sensitivity to natural wonders and thus I will forever stand mesmerized when watching the evening heavens in the sixth month of the year, the annual midpoint.

This year, the longest day of the solstice offered spectacular skies, which came across as endlessly enchanting, almost divine or biblical, full of dramatic thunderheads with shooting sun-ray beams, painting my westerly view in cool azure blue mixed with platinum white and anthracite grey, adding a hint of warm orange.

Trying to eternalize the evening skies with my camera, I was overwhelmed by a plethora of sentimental emotions. Prevailingly a certain soft sadness, bordering on gentle melancholy, as I became aware of one unmistakable fact - once again the threshold of light has been crossed...

The Open Sky.

Recently, I went for a walk in my immediate surroundings. I live in a hilly area, in the outskirts of a major Danish city. My house is built on a hill and in my south, the hills stretch even higher, giving me wonderful south bound views out of my westerly windows, but shielding my late autumn and winter sunsets.

To my north and east, I have an unrestricted view of the city below, with a glimpse of the ocean from my kitchen window. The image above illustrates the position of my house, as it can be seen from the hills above it. The blue sea is clearly visible, lining the horizon above the red roofs.

Within just a few minutes of walking, views out of this world are presented to me. The area where I live is situated near a bronze age burial mound, dating some 1000 to 1800 years BC. The panoramic outlook from its top is at all times breath taking, as seen on the pictures below. The vistas expose magnificent landscape, outstretched in all directions. Layers of hills, fields and green woods intertwined with small villages lie to the south. To the north, the skyline of a bustling metropolis can be observed, a major port and a millennium old city, established by the Vikings.

All of this is lined by an incredible open sky, dramatic and wide, varying in colours during the seasons, but always instigating a sense of unrestricted freedom and grand beauty.

Noctilucent Clouds.

During the summer months in Scandinavia, a very peculiar phenomenon can be observed at times in the night sky. If the conditions are right, the twilight heavens are illuminated by light, shining clouds. Such was the occasion this past week. As I was getting ready to turn in for the night, closing the living room window, a sight of pearlescence in the sky - resembling platinum glowing waves - greeted me.

Called Noctilucent Clouds, these consist of ice crystals and are the highest known clouds in the atmosphere. Positioned in the mesosphere at altitudes of around 76 to 85 kilometers - literally at the edge of space - they are not fully understood and are a recently discovered meteorological phenomenon; there is no evidence that they were observed before 1885.

Noctilucent clouds can be seen by observers at a latitude of 50 to 65 degrees and seldom at lower latitudes. Occurring during summer, from mid-May to mid-August in the northern hemisphere and between mid-November and mid-February in the southern hemisphere, they are very faint and tenuous, and can only be spotted in twilight at sunrise or sunset in the north cardinal direction. At this time the clouds of the lower atmosphere are in shadow and the noctilucent clouds are illuminated by the sun.

This was my second sighting, much better then the one I observed last June, particularly as the position of the clouds occurred in my immediate view to the north-northwest, on the still sunset coloured night sky.

To those who found this subject intriguing; please visit this audio slideshow on BBC page.

(Please click the image below for a larger view)