Aurora Shimmer Meteor Flash
6.12.2014

Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, haunted skies over the island of Kvaløya, near Tromsø Norway on 2009 December 13. This 30 second long exposure records their shimmering glow gently lighting the wintery coastal scene.

Aurora Over RaufarhЖfn
30.04.2012

It was all lined up even without the colorful aurora exploding overhead. If you follow the apex line of the recently deployed monuments of Arctic Henge in RaufarhЖfn in northern Iceland from this vantage point, you will see that they point due north.

Aurora Oklahoma
13.11.2003

Nestled in the central US, the state of Oklahoma is noted for its gorgeous prairie skies and wide-open spaces, but not for frequent visitations of the northern lights. Still, following the intense solar activity...

A Proton Aurora
17.12.2003

What are auroras made out of? Most auroras are caused by the solar wind exciting electrons that are funneled down the Earth's magnetic field. These electrons strike air molecules, liberating other electrons that glow when re-acquired.

Red Aurora Over Australia
1.02.2012

Why would the sky glow red? Aurora. Last week's solar storms, emanating mostly from active sunspot region 1402, showered particles on the Earth that excited oxygen atoms high in the Earth's atmosphere. As the excited element's electrons fell back to their ground state, they emitted a red glow.

Aurora and Light Pillars over Norway
8.02.2022

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 Б creating bright auroras.

Aurora over Clouds
30.05.2021

Auroras usually occur high above the clouds. The auroral glow is created when fast-moving particles ejected from the Sun impact the Earth's magnetosphere, from which charged particles spiral along the Earth's magnetic field to strike atoms and molecules high in the Earth's atmosphere.

Aurora Over White Dome Geyser
20.02.2022

Sometimes both heaven and Earth erupt. Colorful auroras erupted unexpectedly a few years ago, with green aurora appearing near the horizon and brilliant bands of red aurora blooming high overhead. A bright Moon lit the foreground of this picturesque scene, while familiar stars could be seen far in the distance.

Aurora over Maine
17.09.2014

It has been a good week for auroras. Earlier this month active sunspot region 2158 rotated into view and unleashed a series of flares and plasma ejections into the Solar System during its journey across the Sun's disk.

APOD: 2025 January 7 Б A New Years Aurora and SAR Arc
7.01.2025

It was a new year, and the sky was doubly red. The new year meant that the Earth had returned to its usual place in its orbit on January 1, a place a few days before its closest approach to the Sun.