Astronomy Picture of the Day 10-31-03

NASA ^ | 10-31-03 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[petuniasevan]

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.

2003 October 31

A Dark and Stormy Night
Credit & Copyright: T. Credner & S. Kohle, AlltheSky.com

Explanation: It was a dark and stormy night. But on August 29th the red planet Mars, near it's closest approach to Earth in almost 60,000 years, shone brightly in the sky against a background of stars in the constellation Aquarius. In the foreground of this scary view, huge thunder clouds are lit by lightning strokes from within. Mars, of course, has nothing to do with storms on Earth, though both have the power to excite the imagination and wonder of Earthdwellers. And who knows what luminous sights you might see if you go out tonight? Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Public Lecture: APOD Editor to speak in New York

[petuniasevan]

To check on the current auroral intensity, go HERE

California fire thread HERE

[petuniasevan]

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

BTTT

[SuziQ]

What a beautiful picture!! We saw the Aurora last night here in Central Massachusetts! We saw it first in the West; a reddish-purple glow in the sky. About a half an hour later, we saw a deeper red glow in the Northeast and within 15 minutes it had changed into streaks of light blue and deep blue against and above the red and it just filled the sky above us! It was so exciting!

[Soaring Feather]

Beautiful!!

[LiteKeeper]

The wonders of God's infinite creation ALERT!

[firewalk]

Very nice
thanks for the ping