APOD: January Aurora Over Norway (2012 Jan 24)

[ksiaze]

I see a faint image of Leonardo di Vinci inside the brightest part of the aurora. At least an old man with heavy shadowy brows and a prominent nose and heavy beard. Amazing what your mind can do!

[PhantoMime]

A mighty phoenix of course!

[Dilmeran]

İ think this looks like a gentle ghost.

[EchoesOfNite]

I live in the Palmetto State, and it kinda looks like a palmetto tree to those of us in SC.

However - it mainly looks magnificent!

[Guest]

I know someone has already said it but I think it looks like a dragon that's come to usher in the new year!

[orin stepanek]

To me; it looks like a creature with hair growing out of it's mouth and nose!

[guest()()()]

It looks like person bursting through the surface of a body of water.

Or a high speed photo of taking a water balloon to the face - looks like a profile facing up to the left

[Elaine Weisburg]

What a beautiful image! I always start the day with APOD. The bright center of the January aurora over Norway looks to me like a palm tree in a hurricane.

[aquapunct]

I see a luminescent Portuguese Man O'War-spectacular!

[Geri]

A daffodil.

[LucTC]

Clearly it's the guy from Fantasia's "Night on Bald Mountain"!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Ca_edg6RE
: )

[chanio]

Question:
Is it possible that by drawing an imaginary line passing through the center of the Earth and through the center of this dense mass of light would point us to the Sun?
Is it possible that we are seeing the point where the Sun's material is just touching our planet before it expands through it?

[pete gerard]

It looks like a great cosmic upside-down SPLASH.

[jinger]

from A Boy Named Charlie Brown
Lucy: Aren't the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton. I could just lie here all day and watch them drift by. If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud's formations. What do you think you see, Linus?
Linus: Well, those clouds up there look to me look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean.
Linus: That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor.
Linus: And that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the Stoning of Stephen. I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side.
Lucy: Uh huh. That's very good. What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?
Charlie Brown: Well... I was going to say I saw a duckie and a horsie, but I changed my mind.

[nonemorenegative]

It does indeed look like a bird of some type, but more like the print left by a poor bird who's flown into a window - anyone who's seen a pigeon or even an owl print on their window will agree

[Dr Mikey]

You are all incorrect. It is actually a human hand with an adult female California Condor puppet on it. Pretty obvious.

[bystander]

Is it possible that by drawing an imaginary line passing through the center of the Earth and through the center of this dense mass of light would point us to the Sun?
Is it possible that we are seeing the point where the Sun's material is just touching our planet before it expands through it?

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

What Causes Aurora?
Universe Today | Nancy Atkinson | 2012 Jan 24

When solar plasma is ejected from the Sun during a magnetic event like a flare or a coronal mass ejection, the plasma travels outward along with the solar wind and when it encounters Earth’s magnetic field, it travels down the field lines that connect at the poles. Atoms in the plasma interacts with atoms in Earth’s upper atmosphere, creating colorful dancing lights.

Auroras are associated with the solar wind, a flow of ions continuously flowing outward from the Sun. The Earth's magnetic field traps these particles, many of which travel toward the poles where they are accelerated toward Earth. Collisions between these ions and atmospheric atoms and molecules cause energy releases in the form of auroras appearing in large circles around the poles.

[Montana]

Reminds me of a Lorax Tree from the world of Dr. Suess! Not the typical circle tree, but a tree that is waving happily in the wind!

[Ioo]

It's definitely a Dragon, since yesterday was Chinese New Year and it's the Year of the Dragon.

[MSSTORE]

Phoenix- a mythical bird

[Jane]

This event reminds me of the Pheonix rising... beautiful.

[isishazel]

Having just seen soaring Great Blue Herons on Sunday, it looks like a Great Green Heron to me!

[Utahn]

I think it most resembles a tall, snow-covered peak with wind-blown snow being whipped off the top.

[ozozo]

It looks like a snowy mountain top.

[rlundquist]

Looks like the Wizard of Oz behind his curtain.