Earth Sun ID: 13167

VISIONS-2 Aurora Imagery

Released on May 7, 2019

Aurora in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard on December 7, 2018. The green laser in the distance is the Koldewey Aerosol Raman Lidar that measures tiny particles in Earth's atmosphere.

Credit: NASA/Joy Ng

The cusp aurora in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. It's a type of aurora that appears only during the day. It looks similar to aurora at night but when these iridescent lights appear, a hundred tons of atmosphere escapes into space. Scientists say this is a natural process that will occur over billions of years.

Credit: NASA/Chris Pirner

Used Elsewhere In

For More Information

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/to-image-leaky-atmosphere-nasa-rocket-team-heads-north

Credits

Joy Ng (USRA): Photographer
Chris Pirner (ADNET): Photographer
Bin Li (Polar Research Institute of China): Photographer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13167

Keywords:
GCMD >> Location >> Svalbard
GCMD >> Location >> Arctic
SVS >> Arctic Circle
NASA Science >> Earth
NASA Science >> Sun
SVS >> Sounding Rocket
SVS >> Aurora
SVS >> Cusp Aurora
SVS >> Polar Cusp
SVS >> VISIONS-2

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0