NLC Visibility & The Moon

[markt]

Ever the optimist, I was contemplating maybe seeing some NLC's here in the UK this evening if the cloud bubbles down in this showery airflow we're in at the moment, when I realised the moon was heading toward full...

Does the moon affect visibilty of NLCs much? For instance comets and deep sky objects are much harder to see the greater the phase of the moon. Or, could the excess skylight created by a near full moon in the sky actually illuminate NLC's more (even if it's not much)? - given their altitude?

Sat here with my beer contemplating it I wondered what you all thought on the matter, and if any of you had any first hand experience on this you might want to share

[martinastro]

A good question Mark.

Although others will disagree with me here I can say from my own experience that bright Moonlight does not effect NLC observation. Some of the best displays I have seen were around full moon and I have never knowingly missed a display because of luna either. One exception to this is the very faint type1 and 2 Veils which will be subdued. Any obvious sturcture will stand out from the sky though. I am still waiting for this cloud to break from here.

[tmcewan]

I agree with Martin, the moon doesn't really hinder NLC observation. However, you do need to be careful not to mistake moonlit cirrus as NLC.

[markt]

Hmmm, thanks for your experiences guys - I forgot about moonlit cirrus trying to pretend to be NLC's. On reflection i've gazed at quite a few of these before cursing them and retreating indoors...