Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2021 December 13 [2]The picture shows a volcano in Iceland in the foreground and both auroras and meteors from the 2012 Geminids in the background. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Meteors and Auroras over Iceland Image Credit & Copyright: [3]James Boardman-Woodend; Annotation: [4]Judy Schmidt Explanation: What's going on behind that mountain? Quite a bit. First of all, the mountain itself, named [5]Kirkjufell, is quite old and located in western Iceland near the town of [6]Grundarfjörður. In front of the [7]steeply-sloped structure lies a [8]fjord that had just begun to freeze when the above image was taken -- in mid-December of 2012. Although quite faint to the [9]unaided eye, the beautiful [10]colors of [11]background aurorae became quite apparent on the 25-second exposure. What makes this image of particular note, though, is that it also captures streaks from the [12]Geminids meteor shower -- meteors that might not have been evident were the aurora much brighter. Far in the distance, on the left, is the [13]band of our Milky Way Galaxy, while [14]stars from our local part of the [15]Milky Way appear spread across the background. Tonight the [16]Geminids [17]meteor [18]shower peaks again and may well provide [19]sky enthusiasts with their own [20]memorable visual experiences. Tomorrow's picture: hidden jet __________________________________________________________________ [21]< | [22]Archive | [23]Submissions | [24]Index | [25]Search | [26]Calendar | [27]RSS | [28]Education | [29]About APOD | [30]Discuss | [31]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [32]Robert Nemiroff ([33]MTU) & [34]Jerry Bonnell ([35]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [36]Specific rights apply. [37]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [38]ASD at [39]NASA / [40]GSFC & [41]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2112/auroraemeteors_boardman_4591.jpg 3. https://www.flickr.com/photos/126180225@N06/ 4. http://www.geckzilla.com/ 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkjufell 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grundarfj%C3%B6r%C3%B0ur 7. https://youtu.be/7U3mlzp_f-M 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fjord 9. https://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/cow_eye/ 10. https://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/difcolors.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121017.html 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geminids 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110710.html 14. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve 15. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galaxy.html 16. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-geminid-meteor-shower/ 17. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/meteors-and-meteorites/geminids/in-depth/ 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211116.html 19. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3216897281747802&type=3 20. https://www.meme-arsenal.com/memes/b438ea9137ca90c92d377755adc37fee.jpg 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211212.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 30. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=211213 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211214.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 34. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 35. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 37. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 38. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 41. http://www.mtu.edu/