Glittering clouds of electric blue begin to appear every year throughout Canada

Great. beautiful. Stunning.

These are the words. Many people use it to describe the clouds at dawn, one of the most beautiful displays in the sky. 

And, especially this long weekend, it's time for Canadians to try to see them themselves, especially in fine weather.

Each year, from the beginning of June to August, these clouds (also known as NLCs or polar midsphere clouds) appear in the northern sky.

Different from the well-known clouds. When the darkness sets, the sun disappears, the stars begin to scatter in the sky, or the sun begins to rise, the darkness begins to turn into sunlight.

There seems to be a standard recipe for formation of this phenomenon: increased water vapor, very low temperatures, and also There are also particles that can freeze water vapor, such as dust left from meteors in the atmosphere and rocket outlets.

NLC is very high in the atmosphere, even at altitudes of about 80 km. Seen. For comparison, the highest clouds we associate with the weather are found at altitudes of 5-13 kilometers.

Also considered to be a slightly new phenomenon of It was first reported in 1885, two years after the giant Krakatoa volcano. Eruption. Early belief was that it was due to t, but he erupted and they disappeared. Since then, they have been seen.

Their views

So far, NLC has been observed mainly at high latitudes north, so northern Canada observes them. It was an ideal place, but in recent years they have been found further south to Utah and Nebraska in the United States.

The belief that climate change is also contributing to their development. There areseen at latitudes they have never seen before. For example, in 2019,Joshua Tree, Californiawas seen south. The main theory is that the more greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, the more water vapor that can form.

The 2019 studyshows that the appearance of NLC is Overall, NLC has become "significantly" prominent, although it suggests that it will fluctuate year by year and even every 10 years.

These shimmering clouds appear in the northern hemisphere during the summer. This is because more water molecules rise from the lower atmosphere and mix with meteor debris. Similarly, this is the coldest time in the mesosphere where these clouds develop.

See | Scientists capture a spectacular dawn cloud display over Canada:

Most of Canada Is in a good position to see these undulating clouds, but people in southern Ontario are at low latitudes.

When trying to find them, it is important to look closely at the northern horizon. In this case, the clouds are bright and lit by the sun below the horizon, so you don't have to go to a dark sky.

In most cases, the sun should be about 5-13 degrees below the horizon, so it will appear 30 minutes to 2 hours after sunset, or 30 minutes to 2 hours before sunrise.

And those clouds are darker than bright NLC, so they can be distinguished from weather clouds.

So if you're in a cottage or park, or if you're celebrating this weekend, don't forget to check it out. You never know what you see.