APOD: Aurora over Clouds (2021 May 30)

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APOD Robot
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APOD: Aurora over Clouds (2021 May 30)

Post by APOD Robot » Sun May 30, 2021 4:06 am

Image Aurora over Clouds

Explanation: 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. An oxygen atom, for example, will glow in the green light commonly emitted by an aurora after being energized by such a collision. The lowest part of an aurora will typically occur about 100 kilometers up, while most clouds exist only below about 10 kilometers. The relative heights of clouds and auroras are shown clearly in the featured picture in 2015 from Dyrholaey, Iceland. There, a determined astrophotographer withstood high winds and initially overcast skies in an attempt to capture aurora over a picturesque lighthouse, only to take, by chance, the featured picture including elongated lenticular clouds, along the way.

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RocketRon

Re: APOD: Aurora over Clouds (2021 May 30)

Post by RocketRon » Sun May 30, 2021 5:01 am

Green, innit !
Quite spectacular in fact.

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orin stepanek
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Re: APOD: Aurora over Clouds (2021 May 30)

Post by orin stepanek » Sun May 30, 2021 12:44 pm

AuroraClouds_Boffelli_2048.jpg

Some of the Aurora Photos that APOD shows are really nice; like this one!
I think I spotted the house in the drown flight! 8-)
I think the clouds seem to become part of the Aurora (my perspective) :mrgreen:
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

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Re: APOD: Aurora over Clouds (2021 May 30)

Post by VictorBorun » Sun May 30, 2021 4:27 pm

orin stepanek wrote: Sun May 30, 2021 12:44 pm AuroraClouds_Boffelli_2048.jpg
I think the clouds seem to become part of the Aurora (my perspective) :mrgreen:
They say we have 2 planes here: a green vertical wall of the Aurora in the background and a horizonal gray floor of the lenticular clouds on the surface of the thick air layer

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