NASA’s Astronomy Photo of The Day a few days ago was a stunning FULL SKY Aurora Borealis over Norway.
Explanation: Higher than the highest building, higher than the highest mountain, higher than the highest airplane, lies the realm of the aurora. Auroras rarely reach below 60 kilometers, and can range up to 1000 kilometers. Aurora light results from energetic electrons and protons striking molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere. Frequently, when viewed from space, a complete aurora will appear as a circle around one of the Earth’s magnetic poles. The above wide angle image, horizontally compressed, captured an unexpected auroral display that stretched across the sky one month ago over eastern Norway. (NASA APOD)
More Info:
Aurora occur near the Poles of Earth where the magnetic fiels that surrounds the planet is different than it is nearer the equator. The Aurora near the north pole are called Aurora Borealis and the Aurora near the south pole are called Aurora Australis. The words Boreal and Austral are used as general terms to refer to the northern and southern hemispheres of Earth regions respectively.
View more Aurora images and video from Sebastian Voltmer on Astrofilm.com.
-Mike
Source: NASA APOD
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