This incredible image, taken near Kautokeino (Norway), shows two different phenomena: a bright aurora, on the left; colorful light pillars, on the right.
Which of two phenomena is your favorite?
Image Credit: Alexandre Correia
Source➡️ https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220208.html
🔭 🧪 ⚛️ #aurora #lightpillars 🧵
Which of two phenomena is your favorite?
Image Credit: Alexandre Correia
Source➡️ https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220208.html
🔭 🧪 ⚛️ #aurora #lightpillars 🧵
Comments
The bright green of aurora, covering the ground and the sky, is due to the luminous oxygen.
We know aurorae are caused by the interaction of high-energy particles (usually electrons) with neutral atoms in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
More➡️ https://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/4D.html
Light pillars are an optical illusion created by cold weather conditions when flat, hexagonal-shaped ice crystals, generally present in high-altitude clouds, hover in the air near the ground.
When nearby light sources, either natural or artificial, reflect off the suspended ice crystals,
the light is reflected and seems to form a vertical column.
Since they are caused by the interaction of light with ice crystals, light pillars belong to the family of halos.
Further reading➡️ https://www.atoptics.co.uk/blog/light-pillars/