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.

                                2023 April 25
      [2]A dark rectangular building is seen across a green field with
      colorful aurora, mostly red, seen in the background sky. Past the
    aurora, the sky is also filled with stars. Please see the explanation
                       for more detailed information.

                    Northern Lights over Southern Europe
                Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Lorenzo Cordero

   Explanation: Did you see an aurora over the past two nights? Many
   people who don't live in Earth's far north did. [4]Reports of aurora
   came in not only from northern locales in the [5]USA as [6]Alaska, but
   as far south as [7]Texas and [8]Arizona. A huge auroral oval extended
   over [9]Europe and [10]Asia, too. [11]Pictured, an impressively [12]red
   aurora was captured last night near the town of [13]Cáceres in central
   [14]Spain. Auroras were also reported in [15]parts of southern Spain.
   The auroras resulted from a strong [16]Coronal Mass Event (CME) that
   occurred on the Sun a few days ago. Particles from the CME crossed the
   inner [17]Solar System before colliding with the Earth's
   [18]magnetosphere. From there, [19]electrons and [20]protons spiraled
   down the Earth's northern magnetic field lines and collided with oxygen
   and nitrogen in [21]Earth's atmosphere, causing [22]picturesque auroral
   glows. Our unusually active Sun may provide future [23]opportunities to
   see the [24]northern lights in [25]southern skies.

                     Tomorrow's picture: lunar triomuphe
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([40]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [41]Specific rights apply.
              [42]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC,
                         [46]NASA Science Activation
                           & [47]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2304/NlightsSeurope_Cordero_5472.jpg
   3. https://www.instagram.com/elcielodecaceres/
   4. https://spaceweathergallery2.com/index.php?title=aurora
   5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
   6. https://spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=195526
   7. https://spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=195569
   8. https://spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=195547
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia
  11. https://www.instagram.com/p/Crb33XXIX7E/
  12. https://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/4D.html
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cáceres,_Spain
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain
  15. https://spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=195528
  16. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/what-is-a-coronal-mass-ejection
  17. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our-solar-system/in-depth/
  18. https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/focus-areas/magnetosphere-ionosphere
  19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron
  20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton
  21. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/atmosphere/en/
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230419.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230122.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180621.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031113.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230424.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230425
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230426.html
  37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  46. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  47. http://www.mtu.edu/