Stunning Photo from Space: Moon Rising Amid Noctilucent Clouds

By Nancy Atkinson - August 6, 2013 at 2:15 PM UTC | Planetary Science
noc-moon.jpg

Recently, Italian astronaut

Luca Parmitano

spent a "night flight" in the Cupola of the International Space Station in hopes of capturing night-time images of his home country from space. But he saw so much more, including this incredible image of the crescent Moon rising among bright blue noctilucent clouds. These wispy and mysterious clouds appear in Earth's mesosphere -- a region extending from 30 to 53 miles (48-85 km) high in the atmosphere -- at twilight, usually in early summer. They can be seen from Earth's northern hemisphere and, obviously, are visible from space too.

You can read about Parmitano's night flight and see more of the images he took at his

Volare blog

. At the close of his image-taking night flight he says, "It's late, and tomorrow will be a long day. With those lights still filling my eyes, I slowly close the seven windows and cross the Station to return to my sleeping pod. Not even dreams could replace the beautiful reality that revolves, oblivious, beneath us."

Find out more about the science of noctilucent clouds

here in our recent article by Bob King.

Below is another image of noctilucent clouds taken by Parmitano on July 28, 2013:

[caption id="attachment_103957" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Bright blue noctilucent clouds seen on July 28, 2013. Credit: NASA/ISI/ESA, via Luca Parmitano on Twitter. [/caption]

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com