                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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 June 26

                  Timelapse: Aurora, SAR, and the Milky Way
      Video Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN); Music (License): Suite
                        bergamasque by Claude Debussy

   Explanation: What's happening in the sky this unusual night? Most
   striking in the featured 4.5-hour 360-degree panoramic video, perhaps,
   is the pink and purple aurora. That's because this night, encompassing
   May 11, was famous for its auroral skies around the world. As the night
   progresses, auroral bands shimmer, the central band of our Milky Way
   Galaxy rises, and stars shift as the Earth rotates beneath them.
   Captured here simultaneously is a rare red band running above the
   aurora: a SAR arc, seen to change only slightly. The flashing below the
   horizon is caused by passing cars, while the moving spots in the sky
   are satellites and airplanes. The featured video was captured from
   Xinjiang, China with four separate cameras.

                  Tomorrow's picture: protostellar outflows
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

