|
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 December 8 Á Aurora around Saturns North Pole
- APOD: 2024 October 16 Á Colorful Aurora over New Zealand
- APOD: 2024 October 13 Á Aurora Timelapse Over Italian Alps
- Northern Lights, West Virginia
- Aurora Australis and the International Space Station
- APOD: 2024 June 26 Á Timelapse: Aurora, SAR, and the Milky Way
- APOD: 2024 June 12 Á Aurora over Karkonosze Mountains