File:Aurora over North America (16719806880).jpg
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Summary
editDescriptionAurora over North America (16719806880).jpg |
Using the “day-night band” (DNB) of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite acquired this view of the aurora borealis on March 18, 2015. The northern lights stretch across Canada’s Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Newfoundland provinces in the image, and are part of the auroral oval that expanded to middle latitudes because of a geomagnetic storm on March 17, 2015. The DNB sensor detects dim light signals such as auroras, airglow, gas flares, city lights, and reflected moonlight. In the case of the image above, the sensor detected the visible light emissions as energetic particles rained down from Earth’s magnetosphere and into the gases of the upper atmosphere. The images are similar to those collected by the Operational Linescan System flown on U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites for the past three decades. Auroras typically occur when solar flares and coronal mass ejections—or even an active solar wind stream—disturb and distort the magnetosphere, the cocoon of space protected by Earth’s magnetic field. The collision of solar particles and pressure into our planet’s magnetosphere accelerates particles trapped in the space around Earth (such as in the radiation belts). Those particles are sent crashing down into Earth’s upper atmosphere—at altitudes of 100 to 400 kilometers (60 to 250 miles)—where they excite oxygen and nitrogen molecules and release photons of light. The results are rays, sheets, and curtains of dancing light in the sky. Read more: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=8555... NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense. Caption by Mike Carlowicz and Adam Voiland. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram |
Date | |
Source | Aurora over North America |
Author | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA |
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by NASA Goddard Photo and Video at https://flickr.com/photos/24662369@N07/16719806880. It was reviewed on 17 September 2016 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0. |
17 September 2016
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This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) | ||
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current | 20:14, 17 September 2016 | 5,000 × 5,000 (3.73 MB) | Vanished Account Byeznhpyxeuztibuo (talk | contribs) | Transferred from Flickr via Flickr2Commons |
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Image title |
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Width | 5,000 px |
Height | 5,000 px |
Compression scheme | LZW |
Pixel composition | Black and white (Black is 0) |
Orientation | Normal |
Number of components | 2 |
Horizontal resolution | 100 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 100 dpi |
Data arrangement | chunky format |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh) |
File change date and time | 17:17, 19 March 2015 |
Color space | sRGB |
Date and time of digitizing | 09:19, 18 March 2015 |
Date metadata was last modified | 13:17, 19 March 2015 |
Unique ID of original document | xmp.did:05801174072068118083A9BDEDCA96B6 |