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Credit & Copyright: Ian Griffin
(Otago Museum)
Explanation:
Colours of a serene evening sky are captured in this
8 minute exposure, made near
this
December's solstice
from New Zealand, southern hemisphere,
planet Earth.
Looking south, star trails form the short concentric arcs around
the rotating planet's south celestial pole
positioned just off the top of the frame.
At top and left of center are trails of the
Southern Cross stars
and a dark smudge from the
Milky Way's Coalsack
Nebula.
Alpha and Beta
Centauri make the brighter yellow and blue tinted trails,
reflected below in the
waters of Hoopers Inlet in the Pacific coast of the South Island's
Otago Peninsula.
On that short December summer night,
aurora
australis also
gave luminous, green and reddish hues to the sky above the hills.
An
upper atmospheric glow
distinct from the aurora
excited by collisions with energetic particles,
pale greenish bands of airglow caused by
a cascade of chemical reactions
excited by sunlight
can be traced in diagonal bands near the top left.
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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: solstice
Publications with words: solstice
See also: