The height of the display, at roughly 3am BST, as seen from latitude 51°N. Credit: Will Gater

At around 3am BST this morning I spotted my first noctilucent clouds of the 2011 season. It was a fairly modest display, but did show some nice Type IIIb cloud structures at one point. Below are a few images I captured, along with two animations I made showing the clouds’ movement and changing structures. Clicking on the images will open up a larger version.

A panorama showing the extent of the display across the NE horizon. Credit: Will Gater

ANIMATION: click the image below to view the wide-angle animation. Credit: Will GaterANIMATION: click the image below to view the close-up animation. Credit: Will Gater