New observations of noctilucent clouds from the Mir orbital station

This paper sets forth the hypothesis that noctilucent clouds are formed fro m the tracks of minicomets when they irrupt into the earth's atmosphere. It presents results-that confirm this hypothesis, in which linear formations of noctilucent clouds and small, short-lived clouds were observed from the Mir orbital station. (C) 1999 The Optical Society of America. [S1070-9762(9 9)00404-2].