Looking South

[N1]

Lean times astronomy-wise, but the short nights make for great views to the South, with twilight coming from unusual directions. Taken just after 11.00pm last night from Home Dune, looking out to sea. Venus near lambda Sagittarii setting in the SW, and circumpolar Omega Cen just past its lowest point in the sky. And some unusual-looking cloud low on the horizon. NLCs perhaps? Not a common sight around here (not quite 46°S).

[leon]

Hi Mirko, splendid shots indeed, love the one with the meteor, well done.

Leon

[Merckx]

Love the colours Mirjko and they sure look like NLCs.

[N1]

Thanks guys. I think under the most favourable conditions, it may just be possible for these to be NLCs. At that altitude (both apparent and actual), they could have been around 9-10° away and still be visible. AIM sat data for 1 Dec shows a NLC puff forming at about 57°S 135°E, too far W when that part of the image was acquired and nothing just south (and slightly W) of here until 65°S but it might have looked slightly different a few hours either side. I've asked someone who knows more than I do about this stuff, so will wait and see what they say.

[alan meehan]

Hey Mirko wow what a lovely view and clear sky

[N1]

Thanks Alan.
Re NLCs, here is the story (https://spaceweatherarchive.com/author/drtonyphillips/)

[Derek Klepp]

Great capture and thanks for the full story .
Cheers Derek

[skysurfer]

Really nice pictures !
And these can really be NLCs, on latitude 46º it is possible, same latitude as Central Europe, or northern parts of the USA.