Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2022 March 13
   [2]The featured image shows colorful airglow rings in the sky in front
   of a centered band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Please see the explanation
                       for more detailed information.

                  Colorful Airglow Bands Surround Milky Way
                  Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Xiaohan Wang

   Explanation: Why would the sky glow like a giant repeating rainbow?
   [4]Airglow. Now air glows all of the time, but it is usually hard to
   see. A disturbance however -- like an approaching storm -- may cause
   noticeable rippling in the [5]Earth's atmosphere. These [6]gravity
   waves are [7]oscillations in air analogous to those created when a
   [8]rock is thrown in calm water. Red airglow likely originates from
   [9]OH molecules about 87-kilometers high, excited by [10]ultraviolet
   light from the Sun, while orange and green [11]airglow is likely caused
   by [12]sodium and [13]oxygen atoms slightly higher up. While driving
   near [14]Keluke Lake in [15]Qinghai Provence in [16]China a few years
   ago, the photographer originally noticed mainly the impressive central
   band of the [17]Milky Way Galaxy. Stopping to photograph it,
   [18]surprisingly, the resulting sensitive camera image showed
   [19]airglow bands to be quite prominent and span the entire sky. The
   featured image has been digitally enhanced to make the colors more
   vibrant.

                      Tomorrow's picture: star hatchery
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([34]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [35]Specific rights apply.
              [36]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC
                           & [40]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2203/AirglowRings_Wang_3887.jpg
   3. mailto: wxh1120150427 @at@ gmail .dot. com
   4. https://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/airglow2.htm
   5. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/science/atmosphere-layers2.html
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_wave
   7. https://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/hgrav.htm
   8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9QwiBFN9gI
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxyl
  10. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves
  11. https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1508084112
  12. https://periodic.lanl.gov/11.shtml
  13. https://periodic.lanl.gov/8.shtml
  14. https://youtu.be/jZ0dant6XjM
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinghai
  16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080713.html
  18. https://ccanimalclinic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/surprised-cat-1-resized.jpg
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170221.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220312.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  29. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220313
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220314.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  40. http://www.mtu.edu/