Although we will have to wait late into the evenings for the sky to get dark, June heralds the beginning of the Noctilucent or ‘night shining’ cloud observing season.  

The noctilucent clouds are beautiful, often eye catching, silver blue formations of ice crystals at very high level, reflecting the rays of the Sun after it sets or before it rises. Unlike normal day time clouds, noctilucent clouds form in the atmosphere at a height of about 50 miles (82 kilometres). The nature of noctilucent clouds is not fully understood but it is believed that they are formed of very small grains of meteor dust covered in ice.  

Noctilucent clouds appear in a variety of forms, often seen as a bright herringbone pattern while at other times they are wispy in appearance.  As the month goes by, the chances of seeing the noctilucent clouds increase. They can, however, only be seen for a short period of time. Over the next few weeks during twilight, an hour or so after the Sun sets, or at dawn before the Sun rises, look to the north in the hope of seeing the silver-blue clouds of a noctilucent cloud display.  

Seeing the stars from town centres can be difficult due to light pollution making the sky too bright, but noctilucent clouds can be seen from town centres just as well as from a dark sky.