APOD: Aurora and Fireball Over Norway (2012 Oct 05)

[APOD Robot]

Aurora and Fireball Over Norway

Explanation: What's happening behind that mountain? A convergence of variable sky spectacles. One night in mid-September near Tromsø, Norway, high red aurora could be seen shimmering through lower green aurora in a way that created a striking and somewhat unusual violet glow. Suddenly, though, the sky flashed with the brightest fireball the astrophotographer had ever seen, as a small pebble from outer space violently crashed into the Earth's atmosphere. The glow illuminated the distant mountain peak known as Otertinden of the Lyngen Alps. The bright meteor, which coincidently disappeared behind the same mountain, was also reflected in the foreground Signalelva River. Although you might consider yourself lucky to see either an aurora or a bright meteor, pictures of them together have been recorded several times previously.

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[owlice]

~~~ sigh ~~~

[Beyond]

Somew-h-e-r-e, in the Auror-a, way up high, there's such a bright stre-a-k, my-o-my-o-my.

[nstahl]

What a sight! What a great shot!

[LocalColor]

Wonderful photo today! Great catch!

[neufer]

---

<<Superman first established secret Fortresses in outer space and at the center of the Earth before settling on an Arctic location. The concept and name "Fortress of Solitude" first appeared in the Doc Savage pulps in the 1930s and 1940s. Doc Savage built his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic and retreated to it alone in order to make new scientific or medical breakthroughs, and to store dangerous technology and other secrets. Superman's original Silver Age Fortress, as it appeared in 1958, was also located in the Arctic and served similar purposes. Built into the side of a steep cliff, the Fortress was accessible through a large gold-colored door with a giant keyhole, which required an enormous key to open it. The arrow-shaped key was so large that only Superman (or another Kryptonian such as Supergirl) could lift it; when not in use, the key sat on a perch outside of the Fortress, where it appeared to be an aircraft path marker.

The Fortress contained an alien zoo, a giant steel diary in which Superman wrote his memoirs (using either his invulnerable finger,twine hand touch pads,that record thoughts instantly or heat vision to engrave entries into its pages), a chess-playing robot, specialized exercise equipment, a laboratory where Superman worked on various projects such as developing defenses to Kryptonite, a (room-sized) computer, communications equipment, and rooms dedicated to all of his friends, including one for Clark Kent to fool visitors. As the stories continued, it was revealed that the Fortress was where Superman's robot duplicates were stored. It also contained the Phantom Zone projector, various pieces of alien technology he had acquired on visits to other worlds, and, much like the Batcave, trophies of his past adventures. Indeed, the Batcave and Batman himself made an appearance in the first Fortress story. The Fortress also became the home of the bottle city of Kandor, and an apartment in the Fortress was set aside for Supergirl.>>

[ronavoig]

Interesting that the reflection is brighter than the fireball in the sky. Stars too. Wonder if there is a reason for this? ..A photographic effect? Ron

[Half Slow]

Huh? What am I missing?

[neufer]

Interesting that the reflection is brighter than the fireball in the sky. Stars too. Wonder if there is a reason for this? ..A photographic effect? Ron

This interesting effect has been discussed here before.

Each bright star in the sky basically saturates a single tiny pixel in the camera whereas
each "dancing" reflected star is able to brighten a number of adjacent camera pixels without much saturation.

Fainter stars don't saturate their single pixels and thus aren't enhance in their reflections.

[neufer]

Huh? What am I missing?

An enormous arrow-shaped key.

[Moonlady]

Beautiful purple aurorae!

There must be a greenhouse behind the hill at the left side of the picture

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[Anthony Barreiro]

This is one of the most beautiful photos I've ever seen. Stars, auroras, a fireball meteor, dramatically lit mountains, a dark forest, and a riverbank, all reflected in the black surface of the flowing river. Bravo.

[gaf_thit]

Great picture.

One thing though about the description. Signalelva in english is the Signal river. Elva = (the) river. Just thought I'd point it out if anyone was interested.