December 28, 2013
Some stars end in silence, some in fire, and some leave behind the raw materials for birthdays.
Alaska Aurora Sequence
Birthday · December 28, 2013
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published December 28, 2013. Credit: LeRoy Zimmerman. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
A remarkably intense auroral band flooded the northern night with shimmering colors on December 7. The stunning sequence captured here was made with a camera fixed to a tripod under cold, clear skies near Ester, just outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. Left to right, spanning a period of about 30 minutes, the panels follow changes in the dancing curtains of northern lights extending to altitudes of over 100 kilometers in a band arcing directly overhead. The panels span 150 degrees vertically, covering about 500 kilometers of aurora laying across the sky from edge to edge. The auroral activity was triggered by a moderate level geomagnetic storm, as a high speed solar wind stream buffeted planet Earth's magnetosphere.
Image credit: LeRoy Zimmerman