January 10, 2017
Somewhere above you, light is arriving from places so distant their names feel like poetry.
Sentinels of a Northern Sky
Birthday · January 10, 2017
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APOD published January 10, 2017. Credit: Pierre Destribats. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Who guards the north? The featured picture was taken last March in Finnish Lapland where weather can include sub-freezing temperatures and driving snow. Surreal landscapes sometimes result, where white alien-looking sentinels seem to patrol the landscape. In actuality though, the aliens are snow-covered trees, and the red hut they seem to be guarding is an outhouse. Far in the distance, behind this uncommon Earthly vista, is a beautiful night sky which includes a green aurora, bright stars, and streaks of orbiting satellites. Of course, in the spring, the trees thaw and Lapland looks much different.
Image credit: Pierre Destribats