March 8, 2026
The cosmos is full of spectacular things: ringed planets, exploding suns, rivers of stars across the night.
The Aurora Tree
Birthday · March 8, 2026
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APOD published March 8, 2026. Credit: Alyn Wallace. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Yes, but can your tree do this? Pictured is a visual coincidence between the dark branches of a nearby tree and bright glow of a distant aurora. The beauty of the aurora -- combined with how it seemed to mimic a tree right nearby -- mesmerized the photographer to such a degree that he momentarily forgot to take pictures. When viewed at the right angle, it seemed that this tree had aurora for leaves. Fortunately, before the aurora morphed into a different overall shape, he came to his senses and captured the awe-inspiring momentary coincidence. Typically triggered by solar explosions, aurora are caused by high energy electrons impacting the Earth's atmosphere around 150 kilometers up. The unusual Earth-sky collaboration was witnessed in March of 2017 in Iceland. Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after 1995)
Image credit: Alyn Wallace