Rare, high-altitude noctilucent or 'night shining' clouds photographed from the International Space Station on 29 May 2016. These Polar mesospheric clouds form between 76km & 85km above the Earth's surface, near the boundary of the mesosphere and thermosphere, a region known as the mesopause. At these altitudes, water vapour can freeze into clouds of ice crystals. When the sun is below the horizon and the ground is in darkness, these high clouds may still be illuminated, lending them their ethereal, 'night shining' qualities. Credit: NASA/ESA/TPeake. Editorial use

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Size: 4940px × 3292px
Location: Earth Orbit
Photo credit: © NASA / digitaleye / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: altitude, clouds, curvature, digitaleye, earth, imaging, international, iss, mesopause, mesosphere, misc22_nasa418, mission, nasa, noctilucent, orbit, planet, quest, remote, science, space, station, surface, thermosphere, tribaleye