Above Aurora Australis
Explanation:
On
May 29, looking southward
from a vantage point about 350 kilometers above
the southern Indian Ocean,
astronauts onboard the
International Space Station
watched this enormous, green ribbon
shimmering below.
Known as
aurora
australis or
southern lights, the shifting,
luminous
bands are commonly seen at high northern latitudes as well,
there known as the aurora borealis or northern lights.
North or south
their cause is the same though,
as energetic charged particles from
the magnetosphere pile into the atmosphere near the Earth's poles.
To produce the characteristic greenish glow, the energetic
particles excite oxygen atoms at altitudes of 100 kilometers or more.
Aurora on May 29 were likely triggered
by the interaction of the magnetosphere with a
coronal mass ejection
erupting
from the Sun on May 24.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
