China News Network Mohe, June 21 (Wu Shusen, Jiang Hui) The 21st is the summer solstice in China's 24 solar terms. During this period of each year, the northernmost city in China is most prone to Northern Lights in Mohe City, Daxinganling, Heilongjiang Province. Not seen, local photographers and photography enthusiasts have recently photographed another magical sky phenomenon-the beauty of luminous clouds.
Mohe City is the northernmost city in China, as well as the city with the highest latitude and the lowest temperature in China. The Arctic Village, a 5A-level scenic spot under its jurisdiction, is the only place in China where you can enjoy the northern lights and polar diurnal phenomena.
The luminous cloud appeared on June 14, 2020 in the urban area of Mohe. Photo by Liu Xinjian
"Luminous clouds only appear in summer at high latitudes. When the sun is 6°-12° below the horizon and the upper-level atmospheric luminous clouds are directly illuminated by the sun, they can be directly observed with the naked eye. The Great Xing'an Mountains, the northernmost part of China, is just right in this area. Nocturnal clouds appear in the Mohe River at the highest latitude in summer." Wu Shusen, a forecaster and senior engineer at the Mohe Meteorological Bureau who has been observing the Northern Lights and luminous clouds for many years, said that luminous clouds are luminous and transparent wave clouds that appear in the high altitudes of the earth during the deep twilight, and often appear blue The color or silver gray is the result of the ice crystal particles in the luminous cloud scattering the sunlight. "The luminous clouds appearing in the Mohe River are stable and less moving. Because the clouds are thin and the water vapor content is small, it is good for the clouds to scatter sunlight and also for viewing. The main types are veil, strip, wave and vortex. In fine weather and It may occur under the conditions of few clouds, especially around the summer solstice."
Luminous clouds appearing in the downtown of Xu Mohe at 22:00 on June 14, 2020. Photo by Liu Xinjian
On July 5th and 6th, 2014, Chen Decheng, a member of the Heilongjiang Photographers Association and the chairman of the Mohe Photographers Association, captured the perfect luminous sky magical phenomenon in Mohe City, which attracted wide attention. In the following years, the luminous clouds appeared more and more in Mohe. At 1:10 on June 9 this year, at 22:30 on June 14 and at 0:8 on June 16, Mohe City has a beautiful view of the luminous clouds.
Nocturnal clouds appeared in the urban area of Mohe on July 5, 2014. Photo by Chen Decheng
Talking about the difference between luminous clouds and northern lights, Wu Shusen said that the northern lights are caused by strong solar wind bursts, which are formed by the impact of the earth's magnetic field and collide with gas atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, while luminous clouds are ice crystal particles in the clouds It is formed by scattering, and its luminous body is a cloud; the northern lights are bright and colorful, the most common is green, red, white and blue also appear from time to time, the luminous cloud is only light blue or silver gray; the northern lights can appear all year round, And the time of occurrence is not fixed, and it is difficult to see even for more than ten years. The luminous clouds only appear in summer, mainly in June, and appear every year. (Finish)