---
title: "Nacreous clouds over Antarctica: a rare phenomenon witnessed by Ukrainian polar explorers"
description: "Ukrainian polar explorers in Antarctica witnessed a rare natural wonder — nacreous clouds. 🌌 Expedition leader Anzhelika Hanchuk called this phenomenon magical and shared unique footage. Find out under what conditions this atmospheric phenomenon forms in the stratosphere! ❄️☁️"
date: 2026-06-17T16:38:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/nacreous-clouds-over-antarctica-a-rare-phenomenon-witnessed-by-ukrainian-polar-explorers
tags: []
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Nacreous clouds over Antarctica: a rare phenomenon witnessed by Ukrainian polar explorers

![Nacreous clouds over Antarctica with an iceberg against a sunset backdrop, a rare atmospheric phenomenon captured by Ukrainian polar explorers](https://xab.info/media/2026/06/17/perlmutrovye-oblaka-nad-antarktidoi-rekoe-yavlenie-kotoroe-uvideli-ukrainskie-polyarniki/perlmutrovye-oblaka-nad-antarktidoi-rekoe-yavlenie-kotoroe-uvideli-ukrainskie-polyarniki-1.webp)

Ukrainian polar explorers stationed in Antarctica witnessed a rare atmospheric phenomenon — nacreous clouds. Footage of this unique event was shared by the press service of the National Antarctic Scientific Center (NASC) on Facebook. The winter sky over the continent revealed a true natural wonder to the visitors, which, as experts note, is not seen by every expedition.

### The magic of the stratosphere

Anzhelika Hanchuk, head of the 31st Ukrainian Antarctic expedition, called nacreous clouds "something magical". According to her, observing this phenomenon creates a feeling of touching the impossible. It was Hanchuk who took the photographs now being shown to the general public. Notably, nacreous clouds became one of the elements of the team's official patch, as this phenomenon is a favorite of the expedition leader.

NASC emphasized that most of the clouds familiar to us form in the troposphere — the lower, moist layer of the atmosphere. However, nacreous clouds are born higher up — in the stratosphere, at altitudes ranging from 15 to 30 kilometers.

### Three conditions for a miracle

NASC experts explained that for nacreous clouds to form, three strict conditions must be met simultaneously:

- **Inflow of moisture into the stratosphere.** This occurs due to strong tropospheric cyclones or mountain waves. When an air flow encounters a high mountain range in its path, it rises, goes around it, and falls down. At this moment, the peak of the wave reaches the stratosphere, delivering moisture there.

- **Extremely low temperatures.** In the stratosphere, the temperature must drop to -50 °C and below. It is precisely these conditions that allow moisture to instantly turn into ice crystals or tiny droplets of supercooled water.

- **Lighting.** For the clouds to shimmer with iridescence, the sun must be a few degrees below the horizon — that is, at the moment of sunrise or sunset. Its rays reflect off the ice crystals, creating the optical effect of iridescence. During the day, against the background of scattered light, the shimmer is practically invisible due to the thinness of the stratospheric clouds.

Previously, Ukrainian polar explorers have demonstrated other unique phenomena: they showed a "tabular" iceberg and filmed an optical phenomenon resembling a "ring with three suns".