March 29, 2001
The cosmos is full of spectacular things: ringed planets, exploding suns, rivers of stars across the night.
Aurora Alaskan Style
Birthday · March 29, 2001
A little universe, just for you
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APOD published March 29, 2001. Credit: Jan Curtis (U. Alaska), ACRC. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Have you checked the space weather report lately? With a coronal mass ejection (CME) headed our way and an immense sunspot group tracking across the solar photosphere, skygazers should be on the alert. The interaction of clouds of energetic particles from the active Sun with planet Earth's magnetosphere often produces significant geomagnetic storms and auroral displays. In fact, just days ago on March 24, photographer Jan Curtis pointed his camera straight up to captured this awesome auroral curtain towering in clear and very cold (-25F) skies over Fairbanks, Alaska, USA. Now, forecasts indicate that a recent Earth-directed CME may also trigger moderate geomagnetic storms over the next few days. Night sky aurora, possibly extending to middle latitudes, would be most likely on March 30-31.
Image credit: Jan Curtis (U. Alaska), ACRC