Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2023 December 12
       [2]A night sky filled with stars is shown behind a picturesque
   foreground. The foreground contains rounded rocks and a person before a
   distant sea. The background contains bands of the Milky Way and bright
      aurora. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                      Aurora and Milky Way over Norway
                Image Credit & Copyright: [3]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 [4]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 [5]rusty-orange planet [6]Mars and the extended [7]Andromeda
   galaxy. But this night had more! For a few minutes during this [8]cold
   arctic night, a second [9]giant arch appeared encircling part of the
   northern sky: an [10]aurora. Auroras are much closer than stars as they
   are composed of glowing air high in [11]Earth's atmosphere. Visible
   outside the [12]green auroral arch is the group of stars popularly
   [13]known as the [14]Big Dipper. The [15]featured digital composite of
   20 images was captured in mid-November 2022 over the [16]Lofoten
   Islands in [17]Norway.

       APOD Year in Review (2023): [18]RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
                       Tomorrow's picture: deep heart
     __________________________________________________________________

      [19]< | [20]Archive | [21]Submissions | [22]Index | [23]Search |
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     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [30]Robert Nemiroff ([31]MTU) & [32]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([33]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [34]Specific rights apply.
              [35]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [36]ASD at [37]NASA / [38]GSFC,
                         [39]NASA Science Activation
                           & [40]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2312/ArcticNight_Cobianchi_2048.jpg
   3. https://giuliocobianchi.com/about/
   4. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap970804.html
   6. https://science.nasa.gov/mars/
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150830.html
   8. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKSyMr2UEAAUL70?format=jpg
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200531.html
  10. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/aurora/en/
  11. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/science/atmosphere-layers2.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190322.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210112.html
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dipper
  15. https://www.instagram.com/p/C0OjdSZI8kS/
  16. https://youtu.be/mg67iIFivDo
  17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway
  18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S00SNpSNKZo
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231211.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  23. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  25. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  28. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=231212
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231213.html
  30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  32. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  33. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  36. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  39. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  40. http://www.mtu.edu/