|
Credit & Copyright: Alexandre Correia
Explanation:
Which half of this sky is your favorite?
On the left, the night sky is lit up by particles expelled from the
Sun that later collided with
Earth's upper atmosphere Á creating bright auroras.
On the right, the night glows with ground lights reflected by millions of tiny
ice crystals
falling from the sky Á creating
light pillars.
And in the center, the astrophotographer presents your choices.
The light pillars
are vertical columns because the fluttering ice-crystals are
mostly flat to the ground, and their colors are those of the ground lights.
The auroras cover the sky and ground in the
green hue of glowing
oxygen,
while their transparency is clear because you can see stars right through them.
Distant stars dot the background,
including bright stars from the iconic constellation of
Orion.
The featured image was captured in a single exposure two months ago near
Kautokeino,
Norway.
Favorite sky half:
Left half (aurora)
|
Right half (light
pillars)
|
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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
Publications with words: aurora
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