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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Вихрь северного сияния над Исландией http://www.variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1825300/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Christophe Suarez
Explanation:
No, the car was not in danger of being vacuumed into space
by the big sky vortex.
For one reason, the vortex was really an
aurora, and since auroras are created by
particles striking the Earth from space, they do not create a
vacuum.
This rapidly
developing auroral display was caused by a
Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun that passed by the
Earth closely enough to cause a ripple in
Earth's magnetosphere.
The upper red parts of
the aurora occur over 250 kilometers high with its red
glow created by atmospheric atomic oxygen directly energized by incoming particles.
The lower green parts of the
aurora
occur over 100 kilometers high with its green
glow created by atmospheric
atomic oxygen energized indirectly by collisions with first-energized
molecular nitrogen.
Below 100 kilometers, there is little atomic oxygen,
which is why auroras end abruptly.
The concentric
cylinders depict a
dramatic
auroral
corona as seen from the side.
The featured image was created from a single 3-second exposure taken in mid-March
over
Lake Myvatn in
Iceland.
April is:
Global Astronomy Month
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.