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Astronomy Picture of the Day - A New Year's Aurora and SAR Arc
NASA ^ | 7 Jan, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Alessandra Masi

Posted on 01/07/2025 12:12:25 PM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: It was a new year, and the sky was doubly red. The new year meant that the Earth had returned to its usual place in its orbit on January 1, a place a few days before its closest approach to the Sun. The first of the two red skyglows, on the left, was a red aurora, complete with vertical rays, caused by a blast from the Sun pushing charged particles into Earth's atmosphere. The second red glow, most prominent on the far right, was possibly a SAR arc caused by a river of charged particles flowing across Earth's atmosphere. Although both appear red, the slight color difference is likely due to the aurora being emitted by both oxygen and nitrogen, whereas the higher SAR arc was possibly emitted more purely by atmospheric oxygen. The featured image was taken on January 1 from near Pieve di Cadore in Italy.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 01/07/2025 12:12:25 PM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 01/07/2025 12:12:45 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

3 posted on 01/07/2025 12:13:06 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

4 posted on 01/07/2025 12:14:11 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


5 posted on 01/07/2025 12:37:38 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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To: MtnClimber

The more you stare at it, the more purplish the aurora on the left looks compared to the SAR Arc thingy on the right.


6 posted on 01/07/2025 12:43:11 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: MtnClimber; Rusty0604

Thanks MtnClimber!
Beautiful picture!
PING to a buddy of mine!


7 posted on 01/08/2025 2:39:07 PM PST by MS.BEHAVIN (Women who behave rarely make history!)
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