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Credit & Copyright: Giulio Cobianchi
Explanation:
What are these two giant arches across the sky?
Perhaps the more familiar one, on the left, is the central band of our
Milky Way Galaxy.
This grand disk of stars and nebulas here appears to encircle much of the southern
sky.
Visible below the stellar arch is the
rusty-orange planet
Mars and the extended
Andromeda galaxy.
For a few minutes during this
cold artic night,
a second
giant arch appeared to the right,
encircling part of the northern sky: an
aurora.
Auroras are much closer than stars as they are composed of glowing air high in
Earth's atmosphere.
Visible outside the
green auroral arch is the group of stars popularly
known as the
Big Dipper.
The featured digital composite of 18 images was captured in mid-December over the
in
Norway.
APOD Year in Review (2020):
RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
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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: Milky Way - aurora
Publications with words: Milky Way - aurora
See also:
- APOD: 2024 December 8 Á Aurora around Saturns North Pole
- APOD: 2024 November 24 Á Journey to the Center of the Galaxy
- APOD: 2024 November 5 Á Milky Way over Easter Island
- 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