Ghost Aurora over Canada

Astronomy Picture of the Day · 2023-10-22 · NASA (public domain)

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Ghost Aurora over Canada — APOD for 2023-10-22

What does this aurora look like to you? While braving the cold to watch the skies above northern Canada early one morning in 2013, a most unusual aurora appeared. The aurora definitely appeared to be shaped like something , but what? Two ghostly possibilities recorded by the astrophotographer were “witch” and “goddess of dawn”, but please feel free to suggest your own Halloween-enhanced impressions. Regardless of fantastical pareidolic interpretations, the pictured aurora had a typical green color and was surely caused by the scientifically commonplace action of high-energy particles from space interacting with oxygen in Earth's upper atmosphere . In the image foreground, at the bottom, is a frozen Alexandra Falls , while evergreen trees cross the middle. Help Wanted: Professional-astronomer level guest writers and assistant editors for APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2023-10-22 — image & explanation courtesy of NASA (public domain), mirrored at Tukuk-OS for reading and search convenience.

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