Astronomy Picture of the Day

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 October 16
A night sky is shown that appears mostly red due to pervasive
aurora. In the foreground is covered by watery grasslands. Clouds 
are visible above the horizon. Thin green aurora are visible 
toward the top of the frame. In the background one can find the Moon,
the LMC, SMC, Venus, a meteor, and the band of our Milky Way galaxy.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Colorful Aurora over New Zealand
Image Credit & Copyright: Tristian McDonald

Explanation: Sometimes the night sky is full of surprises. Take the sky over Lindis Pass, South Island, New Zealand one-night last week. Instead of a typically calm night sky filled with constant stars, a busy and dynamic night sky appeared. Suddenly visible were pervasive red aurora, green picket-fence aurora, a red SAR arc, a STEVE, a meteor, and the Moon. These outshone the center of our Milky Way Galaxy and both of its two satellite galaxies: the LMC and SMC. All of these were captured together on 28 exposures in five minutes, from which this panorama was composed. Auroras lit up many skies last week, as a Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun unleashed a burst of particles toward our Earth that created colorful skies over latitudes usually too far from the Earth's poles to see them. More generally, night skies this month have other surprises, showing not only auroras -- but comets.

Jigsaw Challenge: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: open space


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