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.

                               2024 January 18
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                    Northern Lights from the Stratosphere
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Ralf Rohner

   Explanation: [5]Northern lights shine in this night skyview from planet
   Earth's stratosphere, captured on January 15. The single, 5 second
   exposure was made with a hand-held camera on board an [6]aircraft above
   Winnipeg, Canada. During the exposure, terrestrial lights below leave
   colorful trails along the direction of motion of the speeding aircraft.
   Above the more distant horizon, [7]energetic particles accelerated
   along Earth's magnetic field at the [8]planet's polar regions excite
   atomic oxygen to create the shimmering [9]display of Aurora Borealis.
   The aurora's characteristic greenish hue is generated at altitudes of
   100-300 kilometers and red at even higher altitudes and lower
   atmospheric densities. The luminous glow of faint stars along the plane
   of our Milky Way galaxy arcs through the night, while the Andromeda
   galaxy extends this northern skyview to [10]extragalactic space. A
   diffuse hint of Andromeda, the closest large spiral to the Milky Way,
   can just be seen to the upper left.

            Tomorrow's picture: shortest day in the Solar System
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    Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([25]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb [26]Specific rights apply.
              [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC,
                         [31]NASA Science Activation
                           & [32]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2401/MagneticStormRohner.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.instagram.com/skypointer2000/
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231125.html
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191010.html
   7. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/sounding-rockets/rockets-to-uncover-electric-circuit-that-powers-the-northern-lights/
   8. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast
   9. https://www.aurorasaurus.org/
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211106.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240117.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240118
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240119.html
  22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  31. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  32. http://www.mtu.edu/