APOD: Aurora over Maine (2014 Sep 17)

[APOD Robot]

Aurora over Maine

Explanation: It has been a good week for auroras. Earlier this month active sunspot region 2158 rotated into view and unleashed a series of flares and plasma ejections into the Solar System during its journey across the Sun's disk. In particular, a pair of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) impacted the Earth's magnetosphere toward the end of last week, creating the most intense geomagnetic storm so far this year. Although power outages were feared by some, the most dramatic effects of these impacting plasma clouds were auroras seen as far south as Wisconsin, USA. In the featured image taken last Friday night, rays and sheets of multicolored auroras were captured over Acadia National Park, in Maine, USA. Since another CME plasma cloud is currently approaching the Earth, tonight offers another good chance to see an impressive auroral display.

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[Boomer12k]

WOW....the violet and Rose colored curtain is AWESOME...as well as the "alien" green.

Is that a woman laying on her back???? OH...er....um....well.....NICE AURORA!!!!

:---[===] *

[starsurfer]

Is that a woman laying on her back???? OH...er....um....well.....NICE AURORA!!!!

:---[===] *

BAN THIS SICK FILTH!

[geckzilla]

Blink...blink... simmer down, now. Simmer down. It's too early in the morning for banning of suggestively shaped mountains.

[owlice]

This is a lovely image! Now if only I could get to Maine before sundown tonight, somewhere with clear dark skies so I could see an aurora with mine own eyes...

[Cousin Ricky]

This is a lovely image! Now if only I could get to Maine before sundown tonight, somewhere with clear dark skies so I could see an aurora with mine own eyes...

You think you live far from aurora country? At least you can make it by car if you can avoid the radar guns.

[Beyond]

...as well as the "alien" green.

Wadda ya mean "alien"?Ok, Mr. :---[===] *, how did you find us out?

Beyond

[Bellerophon]

I recognize the vantage point in the photo. It's taken from the south end of Jordan Pond, looking northward. The suggestive shapes are called "The Bubbles." As usual, I'm glad I was keeping abreast of APOD!

[ThePiper]

.
In this picture we can see auroras in almost all colors of the spectre. From nearly ultraviolet down to red . Except blue. Why?

[saturno2]

Beautiful image

[alter-ego]

.
In this picture we can see auroras in almost all colors of the spectre. From nearly ultraviolet down to red . Except blue. Why?

The dominant (naked-eye-visible) auroral photon energies do not typically include pure blue.

Colors of the aurora: The most common color is a pale yellowish green color at a very specific wavelength (557.7 nm). It is produced by atomic oxygen excited to the 1S state (singlet S state). The other common color is a red glow at 630.0 nm which is produced by oxygen excited to the 1D state (singlet D state). Sometimes the lower edges of aurora rays can be a bluish purple (427.8 nm) from molecular nitrogen in the 2P state. And if you see aurora near sunrise or sunset, the sunlight hits the tops of the auroral rays and ionizes the excited nitrogen to create a purple color. There are many other colors in the aurora but they are either too dim to see with the naked eye or they are outside the visible spectrum either in the infrared or ultraviolet (where the human eye can?t see them).

[Boomer12k]

...as well as the "alien" green.

Wadda ya mean "alien"?Ok, Mr. :---[===] *, how did you find us out?

Beyond

I am well aware of the Squirrels and their connections....they have been after me for years. It is a conspiracy I tell you....they are after me....yeah...I know too much.

I have this whole Squirrel Conspiracy Theory that I tell the ladies at the store and the bank. They just laugh and think it is funny. But every story I tell them is true. OK...my conclusions could be wrong...and if it was just me, I might BE crazy...but it is not just me....

So...when I see "alien green"...in an aurora....I know....WINK, WINK, NUDGE, NUDGE.....

:---[===] *

[LocalColor]

We were so hoping to see the aurora from central Idaho, but the "storm" arrived several hours before sundown.

Lovely photo and thank you for sharing this awesome event.

[DavidLeodis]

In the information that is available through the "featured image" link in the "the featured image taken last Friday night" it states the image was taken September 12 2014 (thus Friday) but in the Exif data that is directly available it states it was taken "2014:09:14 03:10:22" thus in the early hours of Sunday. I'm .

It's a great image though.