July 15th, 2008: Evening Display, New Forest

2008 seems to be a good year for seeing noctilucent clouds so far, certainly I've seen more than any other year, but that might just be because I've been more aware of them. This particular display was quite short-lived and average, but still worth getting out for some shots. I fist noticed the clouds quite early at about 2220 BST. Unfortunately, some low cloud obscured them for a time, just when I arrived at a good vantage point:

The cloud began to thin, showing a hint of what was behind:

Eventually the brisk wind cleared away enough cloud to see most of the display, which turned out to be a narrow band of cloud about 45° high, with more on the horizon to the north:

A wide view, showing the display as it looked to the naked eye:

Behind me, a nearly full Moon was bright enough to cast shadows, so I framed it with a plane routing into Bournemouth Airport:

As it got towards 2330, the NLC band started to fade, but on the northern horizon, the cloud became much brighter, standing out against the black sky above. By around midnight the whole lot had gone: