APOD: Creature Aurora Over Norway (2013 Nov 06)

Dixieflatline75 · Post by **Dixieflatline75** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 1:23 pm

It looks like quetzalcoatl...

Daver · Post by **Daver** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 1:40 pm

It's Norway, so it's a Viking ship, of course. Maybe a ghost ship from Valhalla coming back for a Halloween visit?

Eldyryn · Post by **Eldyryn** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 1:51 pm

I would say a cobra, or maybe a seahorse

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 2:24 pm

Taken in Norway? I wonder what the fox would say about it?

stringali · Post by **stringali** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 2:43 pm

a headless swan, perhaps

Chris Peterson · Post by **Chris Peterson** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 2:50 pm

Rikk wrote:Super pic but aren't the colours formed from oxygen and nitrogen?

Yes, that seems like an error in the caption. Atomic oxygen at high altitudes, molecular nitrogen and oxygen as we get lower. There is hydrogen in the upper atmosphere, and it can produce visible aurora emissions, but certainly most of what we see is from oxygen and nitrogen.

middlekid · Post by **middlekid** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 2:58 pm

to me it looks like a dolphin or a sailfish jumping out of the water - not scary at all, just beautiful

Roxane · Post by **Roxane** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 3:01 pm

The Giant Spirit of the Wonder Swann, who rise to bring strange beauty in the world...

Jane · Post by **Jane** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 3:03 pm

It's the Great Snake which lies wrapped around the roots of the Norse World Tree.

bugg1957 · Post by **bugg1957** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 3:14 pm

Angel of Light

NightStar · Post by **NightStar** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 3:15 pm

I saw a serpent. Specifically a Pokemon called Serperior. Pokemon, no; serpent, yes.

Mllefifi · Post by **Mllefifi** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 3:24 pm

It's obviously a flying fish...

Jjensen17 · Post by **Jjensen17** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 3:45 pm

I'm pretty sure this is the water dragon Dyino.

jenx3401 · Post by **jenx3401** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:08 pm

Looks like a swan to me.

Dyino · Post by **Dyino** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:11 pm

http://wp.me/p1Ngwi-50

Ron-Astro Pharmacist · Post by **Ron-Astro Pharmacist** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:32 pm

Reply with quoteRe: APOD: Creature Aurora Over Norway (2013 Nov 06)
by middlekid » Wed Nov 06, 2013 2:58 pm

to me it looks like a dolphin or a sailfish jumping out of the water - not scary at all, just beautiful

I agree. That was my impression too!!

Billsey · Post by **Billsey** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:38 pm

Heaven's Swan

The Vanished Baker · Post by **The Vanished Baker** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:43 pm

GavinW wrote:Definitely a Snark of the Boojum variety.

For the Snark was a Boojum, you see. (http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/carroll ... index.html)

RJN · Post by **RJN** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 8:35 pm

Rikk wrote:Super pic but aren't the colours formed from oxygen and nitrogen?

Yes. Oops. Glitch in the wet-ware. Of course it is nitrogen. Fixed it. Thank you! - RJN

Iamrocketjock · Post by **Iamrocketjock** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:25 pm

It is a leaping sailfish, great Pict, thank you!

Beyond · Post by **Beyond** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 11:43 pm

Nah! You're all wrong. It's just a nice little critter that snuck out of BEYONDER LAND.

lachablis@gmail.com · Post by **lachablis@gmail.com** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 12:41 am

hello out there!...this is a comment and Question from a very very new observer in Kansas...
thank-you,firstly,for a most dazzling picture!!...and whether I 'see' images or not in that awesome pic,i am only tooo happy to be a part of its magnificence!!...
I do have a Question,however...as i look up into the clear sky,this evening [6:34pm or 1834 hours] on this November06,I see the sliver of the moon[quite bright] and to the lower left of the moon [SW or SSW[ of it,is a bright planet? which,through my binoculars,looks somewhat like a cross?!...my imagination or is that real??...and if it is a lovely planet,could someone inform me as to which it is??..i am truly a novice at this...i would appreciate some direction as to books or charts or anything in material/physical form that i can arrange on my walls to follow the 'sky'...

thanks for your indulgence...
kansas...

Nitpicker · Post by **Nitpicker** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 1:00 am

lachablis@gmail.com wrote:hello out there!...this is a comment and Question from a very very new observer in Kansas...
thank-you,firstly,for a most dazzling picture!!...and whether I 'see' images or not in that awesome pic,i am only tooo happy to be a part of its magnificence!!...
I do have a Question,however...as i look up into the clear sky,this evening [6:34pm or 1834 hours] on this November06,I see the sliver of the moon[quite bright] and to the lower left of the moon [SW or SSW[ of it,is a bright planet? which,through my binoculars,looks somewhat like a cross?!...my imagination or is that real??...and if it is a lovely planet,could someone inform me as to which it is??..i am truly a novice at this...i would appreciate some direction as to books or charts or anything in material/physical form that i can arrange on my walls to follow the 'sky'...

thanks for your indulgence...
kansas...

It is most definitely the planet Venus. I am a little surprised it appeared as a cross in your binoculars, but that could be what is known as a diffraction spike, caused by the particular optics of your binoculars. If properly resolved, Venus's current phase makes it appear as a half-circle, much like a first-quarter Moon.

Chris Peterson · Post by **Chris Peterson** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 1:08 am

lachablis@gmail.com wrote:hello out there!...this is a comment and Question from a very very new observer in Kansas...
thank-you,firstly,for a most dazzling picture!!...and whether I 'see' images or not in that awesome pic,i am only tooo happy to be a part of its magnificence!!...
I do have a Question,however...as i look up into the clear sky,this evening [6:34pm or 1834 hours] on this November06,I see the sliver of the moon[quite bright] and to the lower left of the moon [SW or SSW[ of it,is a bright planet? which,through my binoculars,looks somewhat like a cross?!...my imagination or is that real??...and if it is a lovely planet,could someone inform me as to which it is??..i am truly a novice at this...i would appreciate some direction as to books or charts or anything in material/physical form that i can arrange on my walls to follow the 'sky'...

That would be Venus. Telescopically, it is currently crescent shaped, similar to the Moon. If you're seeing a cross, it's either aberration in the binocular optics, or in your eyes.

Nitpicker · Post by **Nitpicker** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 1:21 am

Chris Peterson wrote:That would be Venus. Telescopically, it is currently crescent shaped, similar to the Moon.

Venus is currently only just past its maximum Eastern Elongation from the Sun, so it is only slightly crescent-shaped at the moment -- it looks more like a half-circle to me. I was photographing it (poorly) last week.