﻿ 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. 2024 January 14 [2]A person stands on snow and looks up at a starry sky. In the sky is a large green aurora that resembles a dragon. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Dragon Aurora over Iceland Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Jingyi Zhang & Wang Zheng Explanation: Have you ever seen a dragon in the sky? Although real flying [4]dragons don't exist, a huge dragon-shaped aurora developed in the sky over Iceland [5]in 2019. The [6]aurora was caused by a [7]hole in the [8]Sun's corona that expelled charged particles into a [9]solar wind that followed a changing [10]interplanetary magnetic field to [11]Earth's magnetosphere. As some of those particles then struck [12]Earth's atmosphere, they [13]excited atoms which subsequently emitted light: aurora. This iconic display was so [14]enthralling that the photographer's mother ran out to see it and was captured in the foreground. Our [15]active Sun continues to show an unusually high number of [16]prominences, [17]filaments, [18]sunspots, and [19]large active regions as [20]solar maximum approaches in 2025. Tomorrow's picture: reflecting stars __________________________________________________________________ [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: Ryan Smallcomb [36]Specific rights apply. [37]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [38]ASD at [39]NASA / [40]GSFC, [41]NASA Science Activation & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2401/DragonAurora_Zhang_2241.jpg 3. mailto:jingyi.dot.tia.dot.zhang@at@gmail.d.o.t.com 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon 5. http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=06&month=02&year=2019 6. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/aurora/ 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100828.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170920.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000318.html 10. http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/imf.html 11. https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/focus-areas/magnetosphere-ionosphere/ 12. https://espo.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/Atmosphere36small.jpg 13. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/atom.html 14. https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2505/4139267083_915e393dbb.jpg 15. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-cycle-progression 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220216.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220913.html 18. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/solar-activity/en/ 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141022.html 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_maximum 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240113.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.com/feed.rss 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 30. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240114 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240115.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. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 42. http://www.mtu.edu/