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Credit & Copyright: Kwon, O Chul
(TWAN)
Explanation:
Intense
auroral
activity flooded the night with
shimmering colors
on February 24, captured here from a lodge
near the city of Yellowknife in northern Canada.
The stunning sequence (left to right) of three all-sky exposures,
taken at 30 second intervals,
shows rapid changes in
dancing curtains of northern lights
against a starry background.
What makes the northern lights dance?
Measurements by NASA's fleet of
THEMIS
spacecraft indicate that these
explosions of auroral activity
are driven by sudden releases of energy in the
Earth's
magnetosphere called magnetic reconnection events.
The reconnection events release energy when
magnetic field lines snap like rubber bands,
driving charged particles
into the upper atmosphere.
Stretching
into space, these reconnection events
occur in the magnetosphere on the Earth's night side
at a distance about 1/3 of the way to the Moon.
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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 - night sky - Themis - magnetic field
Publications with words: aurora - night sky - Themis - magnetic field
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 August 15 Á A Triply Glowing Night Sky over Iceland