by APOD Robot » Tue May 01, 2018 4:07 am
The Aurora and the Sunrise
Explanation: On the International Space Station (ISS), you can only admire an aurora until the sun rises. Then the background Earth becomes too bright. Unfortunately, after
sunset, the rapid orbit of the ISS around the Earth means that sunrise is usually less than
47 minutes away. In the
featured image, a green aurora is visible below the
ISS -- and on the horizon to the upper right, while sunrise approaches ominously from the upper left. Watching an aurora from space can be
mesmerizing as its changing shape has been compared to a giant green
amoeba.
Auroras are composed of energetic electrons and protons from the Sun that impact the
Earth's magnetic field and then spiral down toward the Earth so fast that they cause
atmospheric atoms and molecules to glow. The
ISS orbits at nearly the same height as auroras, many times
flying right through an aurora's thin upper layers, an event that neither harms astronauts nor
changes the shape of the aurora.
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180501.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_180501.jpg[/img] [size=150]The Aurora and the Sunrise[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] On the International Space Station (ISS), you can only admire an aurora until the sun rises. Then the background Earth becomes too bright. Unfortunately, after [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170502.html]sunset[/url], the rapid orbit of the ISS around the Earth means that sunrise is usually less than [url=https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/mcc/sts-111/06_09_07_06_11.html]47 minutes[/url] away. In the [url=https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-aurora-and-the-sunrise]featured image[/url], a green aurora is visible below the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161105.html]ISS[/url] -- and on the horizon to the upper right, while sunrise approaches ominously from the upper left. Watching an aurora from space can be [url=https://c7.alamy.com/comp/DRY9W4/white-cat-mesmerized-by-goldfish-in-a-fish-tank-DRY9W4.jpg]mesmerizing[/url] as its changing shape has been compared to a giant green [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pR7TNzJ_pA]amoeba[/url]. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL_-Zz7JDoA]Auroras[/url] are composed of energetic electrons and protons from the Sun that impact the [url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/Earths-magneticfieldlines-dipole.html]Earth's magnetic field[/url] and then spiral down toward the Earth so fast that they cause [url=https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/atmosphere.jpg]atmospheric[/url] atoms and molecules to glow. The [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151109.html]ISS[/url] orbits at nearly the same height as auroras, many times [url=https://www.nasa.gov/content/flying-through-an-aurora]flying right through an aurora[/url]'s thin upper layers, an event that neither harms astronauts nor [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110328.html]changes the shape[/url] of the aurora.
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