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Credit & Copyright: Chantal Anders
Explanation:
This was an unusual night.
For one thing, the night sky of August 11 and 12,
earlier this week, occurred near the peak of the annual
Perseid Meteor Shower.
Therefore, meteors streaked across the
dark night as small bits cast off from
Comet Swift-Tuttle came crashing into the
Earth's atmosphere.
Even more unusually, for central
Germany
at least, the night
sky glowed purple.
The red-blue hue was due to aurora caused by an
explosion of particles from the
Sun a few days before.
This
auroral storm was so intense that it
was seen as far south as
Texas and
Italy, in Earth's northern hemisphere.
The featured image composite was built from 7 exposures
taken over 26 minutes from
Ense,
Germany.
The Perseids occur
predictably
every August,
but auroras visible this far south are more unusual and less predictable.
Gallery:
Perseid Meteor Shower 2024 and Aurorae
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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