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Credit & Copyright: BjÜrn JÜrgensen
Explanation:
What's that in the sky?
An aurora.
A large
coronal mass ejection occurred on our Sun five days before this 2012 image was
taken,
throwing a cloud of fast moving electrons, protons, and ions
toward the Earth.
Although most of this cloud passed above the Earth,
some of it impacted our Earth's
magnetosphere
and resulted in
spectacular auroras being seen at high northern latitudes.
Featured here is a particularly photogenic
auroral corona captured above
Grotfjord,
Norway.
To some, this
shimmering green glow of
recombining atmospheric
oxygen
might appear as a large
eagle, but feel free to
share what it looks like to you.
Although now past
Solar Maximum,
our Sun continues to
show occasional activity
creating
impressive auroras on Earth
visible only last week.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: aurora - coronal mass ejection
Publications with words: aurora - coronal mass ejection
See also:
- APOD: 2024 January 14 Á Dragon Aurora over Iceland
- APOD: 2024 January 3 Á A SAR Arc from New Zealand
- APOD: 2023 December 12 Á Aurora and Milky Way over Norway
- The SAR and the Milky Way
- APOD: 2023 November 5 Á Creature Aurora Over Norway
- APOD: 2023 October 22 Á Ghost Aurora over Canada
- APOD: 2023 April 19 Á Auroral Storm over Lapland