APOD: Mysterious Green Patches on the Sky (2013 Sep 30)

[Peter B. Burke]

I have been writing a research article, The Dawn Effect, as to the effect of the highest solar orbit speed (67,000 MPH) at dawn into the streams of solar particles deflected by the Earth's magnetic shield. Like a car in a rain, small effect of raindrops on windshield at 20 MPH but 5 times the rain drops at 100 MPH.
I have been intending to submit the article to NASA or NOAA, as the concentration of particles at the "dawn line" may cause extensive concentrations of negative particles in that area, with corresponding positive effects in the atmosphere and Earth, or vice versa.
Which might be utilized by land or satellite observations to "MRI" the Earth.

[chuck mchenry]

I have seen this before. It is light reflected off of low hanging clouds. Possibly from a rising moon (the sun sets in the scene, the moon would be rising behind. The glare changes intensity with the clouds.

[Rise722]

I assume this is the Aurora....I just want to know when the Perseid meteor shower is going to get good again...

[CUErik]

1) The rock faces become far brighter than either the water or the glowing in the sky, suggesting some source of illumination coming from behind the camera.
2) The glowing "whatever" moves upward in the frame of the camera, the clouds we see later move across the frame. So, whatever the glow is, it lies in a different layer of the atmosphere from the clouds.
3) The illumination of the rocks starts some time after the green glow (especially if one thinks in terms of real time). Looking closely, one can also see that the center of the illumination moves from the center of the frame (the clouds/aurora/mist) to the rocks on the right over the course of several hours (real time).
4) The correlation with the tide seems suggestive, but the timing isn't all that good as the tide was clearly rising for several hours (real time) prior to the green glow.
5) An aurora also seems possible, however I don't see any of the vertical streaming one usually sees. Also, auroras usually move in a more sinuous fashion than this green glow moves. Finally, an aurora can't explain the illumination of the rocks. However, the illumination of the rocks and the green glow could be different phenomenon.
6) There are a number of jumps in the light saturation and color of the video, especially during the time the green glow is visible, this suggests that the color and possibly the timing of the glow's appearance might be caused by adjustments in the camera or post-production (not making any accusations, just interested in more info from the producer).
7) Really, it seems impossible to come to any solid conclusions. But I will put my money on a light source behind the camera illuminating a rising mist and the rocks.

[josephus53]

I don't know what caused the green patches, but thanks for the extra links. Let's keep politics out of APOD. Thanks.

[DrJohn]

I would guess an aurora.

[Laurie]

I have no idea, but I love my daily APOD and I wanted to say thank you for keeping it going! And the humor with the embedded link was totally unexpected and very much appreciated; will probably ensure I click on more in the future.

[TimGregg]

I note that the green is the complementary color to the orange which seems to pervade what ought to be a dark sky. My guess would be noctilucent clouds somehow subtracted of their orange.

[jspring]

...and why is there a pervasive orange background?

[fuzzycop]

Facts: The camera view is towards the South with North being behind the viewer. The green color invades the view from the South, below a high cloud deck, and appears very uniform in development.

Implication: The viewer is seeing very high clouds approaching from the South, reflecting from below the cloud deck, the green light of an Aurora Borealis in the North.

[ddale]

I don't know about the green glow. I just want to know about the two bears by the rocks there in front. Why don't they move in all that time? Especially the baby; I would think the small bear would be too active to remain motionless during the long exposure. Perhaps it and the larger bear were transfixed by the Perseid meteor shower?

That's a bigger mystery to me than a flickering of green in the sky seen only by a camera.

[DeweyV]

I would like a little more precise info on the setup for this video. Specifically , what is the azimuth of the camera making the image? What direction was the camera pointing, and from what Lat-Long ? Looks like it might be a northeasterly pointing. Elevation at top of frame in degrees would be helpful, too.

[Jim Fogleman]

It's just me 'green with envy' for not being at such a spectacular locale.

[Rick357]

It looks like reflected artificial light off the water surface as the tide comes in on to ground fog. Same thing can be seen with a flashlight or laser pointer when pointed straight up as the air temperature reaches dew point.

[Guest]

I would like a little more precise info on the setup for this video. Specifically , what is the azimuth of the camera making the image? What direction was the camera pointing, and from what Lat-Long ? Looks like it might be a northeasterly pointing. Elevation at top of frame in degrees would be helpful, too.

I just viewed this again , and noted that the star travel is very nearly " horizontal " , so the camera cannot be looking north towards the circumpolar region , or else the trails would be more curved .

Makes me think the camera is actually looking southerly , more towards the celestial equator. The Perseids seem to be coming from off camera upper left , which translates to the camera facing south or southwesterly. Makes that green glow phenom all the more mysterious for what's providing the light source.

Space station time lapse videos show that perpetual band of airglow above the Earth's limb. I'm assuming the green mist here is very high altitude clouds lit by the far faint backglow of auroras coming from behind the camera , north.

[nuclrengnr]

Although I am by no means an educated astronomer, professional or amateur, I do stargaze. This video and its mysterious green light is quite the puzzle.
My opinion, in which I hope I am correct, is that this mysterious green glow is a reflection of moon light from a full moon opposite this region.
The first clue was the high tide coming in with the glow arriving.
The second clue is the apparent lack of noticeable moonlight in the video.

If my guess was accurate you may contact me at /username/@gmail where as /username/ is the name above.

[Redbone]

The green mist in the sky exactly correlates with white edge of the rising tide. It is a camera artifact of light reflecting from the white edge of the water and then being picked up by a long exposure. The green mist in the sky moves exactly perpendicular to the green light being reflected off of the white water edge. I do not understand the precise optical physics that would produce this but the random motion of the white water edge plays a part in propagating the green light in random directions which is then detected by the camera as movement perpendicular to the rising tide.

[dryost@wyoming.com]

aurora

[edgreene]

Because it occurs as the water comes in, could it possibly be some condensation seeping into the camera and coating the warmer lens or possibly the front of the lens and then evaporating just as quickly?

[gary reiber]

The color of the light cameras catches is often the true color (before cameras could white balance); while the eye corrects ("white balances"). the Video seems to have a slight greenish tinge starting soon after it gets dark. The green mist is thin as the stars are visible through the green mist. I do think it is the reflection of light off the green water. I think the light source is other than the small white light hidden behind the rock; it lacks the power. The mist rises vertically and does not show a shadow for the large rock; the light source is not positioned to reflect enough light off the ocean. I conclude that it is a reflected ambient light and a low mist reflects it most strongly. ( at the end the high clouds do not reflect the green.

[JohnD]

Tide, Schmide,

See: http://www.kwqc.com/story/23121006/huge ... ar-erie-il
"Huge Gas Pipeline Fire Near Erie, IL

A gas pipeline exploded in Whiteside County, Ill., just before midnight on Monday, August 12, 2013.
Whiteside County officials tell us Erie, Ill., crews were able to turn off the gas line, but that did not stop the flames.
The fire was so intense, the flames could be spotted from miles away.
Some reports came in from eye witnesses as far as Rock Falls, Ill., who reported they could see the glow.
Crews responded to the massive pipeline explosion near Interstate 88 and Albany Road, just north of Erie.
Residents living within a one mile radius were evacuated and a shelter was opened at the Erie Fire Department."

John

[Joost]

Maybe theyre high up clouds and there something with the camera settings?

[Rick in Maine]

This view is to the southeast. The body of water is The Bay of Fundy. I'm guessing Aurora like many others. Since the view is away from the direction auroras are normally viewed, it may be some spillover (highly unastronomic term!) or reflection of a stronger activity to the north.

[geckzilla]

Tide, Schmide,

See: http://www.kwqc.com/story/23121006/huge ... ar-erie-il
"Huge Gas Pipeline Fire Near Erie, IL

A gas pipeline exploded in Whiteside County, Ill., just before midnight on Monday, August 12, 2013.
Whiteside County officials tell us Erie, Ill., crews were able to turn off the gas line, but that did not stop the flames.
The fire was so intense, the flames could be spotted from miles away.
Some reports came in from eye witnesses as far as Rock Falls, Ill., who reported they could see the glow.
Crews responded to the massive pipeline explosion near Interstate 88 and Albany Road, just north of Erie.
Residents living within a one mile radius were evacuated and a shelter was opened at the Erie Fire Department."

John

Surely you don't think a pipeline that exploded 1500 miles away the night after the video was shot had anything to do with it?

[FreddieKrueger]

I think the most plausible is a camera artifact -- was the ambient temperature changing? I have been told (but don't know it to be true) that the sensors can be affected by temperature. Has this particular camera /video set-up captured anything like this before? If so, then I would especially lean towards an electronic affect instead of an atmospheric effect.