If you live near the Arctic Circle, winter can be a dark, dull time of year (especially compared to the rest of the Northern Hemisphere). During the winter, the sun drops below the horizon, casting a dark shadow over the people there for weeks on end. It may seem dreary to some, but during that time, the North is also treated to some spectacularly beautiful shows in the sky.
Aurora Borealis (a.k.a. the Northern Lights) make those multiple days of night gorgeous…and so do the lesser known polar stratospheric clouds (PSC). The Norwegian city of Tromsø was treated to a view of those clouds last month — and they were amazing.
The PSCs are made up of small frozen particles. They’re colorful because they are just high enough to be hit by the sun’s rays.
When the light hits those particle clouds, it’s refracted, creating beautiful colors. (These incredible shots were taken at 10:30am!)
Photographer Truls Melbye Tiller captured a truly magnificent moment.
The clouds may be beautiful, but they also may be connected to the destruction of the ozone layer.
It’s possible that the particles provide a surface for chemical reactions (most of which aren’t good). Dangerous compounds such as chlorine monoxide could be created in those gorgeous clouds.
