                APOD: 2018 May 1 - The Aurora and the Sunrise

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                  2018 May 1
                                      [2]
                          The Aurora and the Sunrise
  Image Credit: NASA [3] , International Space Station [4] , Ricky Arnold [5]

Explanation: On the International Space Station (ISS), you can only admire an
aurora until the sun rises. Then the background Earth becomes too bright.
Unfortunately, after sunset [6] , the rapid orbit of the ISS around the Earth
means that sunrise is usually less than 47 minutes [7]  away. In the featured
image [8] , a green aurora is visible below the ISS [9]  -- and on the horizon
to the upper right, while sunrise approaches ominously from the upper left.
Watching an aurora from space can be mesmerizing [10]  as its changing shape
has been compared to a giant green amoeba [11] . Auroras [12]  are composed of
energetic electrons and protons from the Sun that impact the Earth's magnetic
field [13]  and then spiral down toward the Earth so fast that they cause
atmospheric [14]  atoms and molecules to glow. The ISS [15]  orbits at nearly
the same height as auroras, many times flying right through an aurora [16] 's
thin upper layers, an event that neither harms astronauts nor changes the
shape [17]  of the aurora.

  Share the Sky: NASA Open API for APOD [18]  Tomorrow's picture: circles sky
                                 and low [19]

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [31] (MTU [32] ) & Jerry Bonnell [33]
                                  (UMCP [34] )
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              A service of: ASD [37]  at NASA [38]  / GSFC [39]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1805/AuroraSunrise_ISS_5568.jpg
  [3] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [4] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
  [5] https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/richard-r-arnold
  [6] ap170502.html
  [7]
https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/mcc/sts-111/
06_09_07_06_11.html
  [8] https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-aurora-and-the-sunrise
  [9] ap161105.html
  [10]
https://c7.alamy.com/comp/DRY9W4/
white-cat-mesmerized-by-goldfish-in-a-fish-tank-DRY9W4.jpg
  [11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pR7TNzJ_pA
  [12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL_-Zz7JDoA
  [13]
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/
Earths-magneticfieldlines-dipole.html
  [14] https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/atmosphere.jpg
  [15] ap151109.html
  [16] https://www.nasa.gov/content/flying-through-an-aurora
  [17] ap110328.html
  [18] https://api.nasa.gov/api.html#apod
  [19] ap180502.html
  [20] ap180430.html
  [21] archivepix.html
  [22] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [23] lib/aptree.html
  [24] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [25] calendar/allyears.html
  [26] /apod.rss
  [27] lib/edlinks.html
  [28] lib/about_apod.html
  [29] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180501
  [30] ap180502.html
  [31] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [32] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [33] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [34] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [35] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [36] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [37] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [38] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [39] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [40] http://www.mtu.edu/
