Last night, a major outbreak of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) covered Europe. Electric-blue tendrils of frosted meteor smoke rippled over European capitals, surprising many observers who had never seen these strange clouds before.

NLCs are Earth’s highest clouds. Seeded by meteoroids, they float at the edge of space 83 km above the ground. The clouds form during summer when wisps of water vapor rise up to the mesosphere, allowing water to crystallize around specks of meteor smoke. This summer, record cold temperatures in the mesosphere are boosting their production.

We were able to capture this rare nightly summer event in the Taunus region, just north of Frankfurt, Germany, where the night shining clouds became visible shortly after sunset. The display was extraordinary and reached high up into the sky. The shapes of the noctilucent waves were just out of this world!

Hopefully we'll get another chance to witness this beautiful sky phenomenon again in the next couple of nights!