Noctilucent clouds investigation from the "Mir" spacecraft in 1992.
Abstract
Preliminary results of the regular visual observations of noctilucent clouds (NC) from the "Mir" spacecraft are presented for the period from June 18 to July 28, 1992. One of the authors was the first to establish with confidence that the so-called low-latitude mesospherical clouds (which could be observed even near the equator) arose in the lower part of the mesopause. So, they didn't differ essentially from the common high-latitude NC. This is an indication of the high relative water vapor concentration (over 10-5) in the mesopause over the whole Earth. The source of the vapor may be only the mini-comets. Ten occurrences of NC with very small horizontal dimensions (less than 100 km) and lifetime only 0.5 - 3 min were detected. They appeared to be created immediately by the entry of separate mini-comets into the atmosphere. A quick motion of the small NC and minor peculiarities in NC were discovered for the first time.
- Publication:
-
Astronomicheskii Vestnik
- Pub Date:
- February 1995
- Bibcode:
- 1995AVest..29...78K
- Keywords:
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- Noctilucent Clouds: Space Research;
- Noctilucent Clouds: Surveys;
- Noctilucent Clouds: Earth Mesosphere