                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2024 May 20
   A large purple transparent dome appears to cover much of a starry sky.
   A person stands in a field looking toward the unusual spectacle. Please
             see the explanation for more detailed information.

                               Aurora Dome Sky
             Image Credit & Copyright: Xuecheng Liu & Yuxuan Liu

   Explanation: It seemed like night, but part of the sky glowed purple.
   It was the now famous night of May 10, 2024, when people over much of
   the world reported beautiful aurora-filled skies. The featured image
   was captured this night during early morning hours from Arlington,
   Wisconsin, USA. The panorama is a composite of several 6-second
   exposures covering two thirds of the visible sky, with north in the
   center, and processed to heighten the colors and remove electrical
   wires. The photographer (in the foreground) reported that the aurora
   appeared to flow from a point overhead but illuminated the sky only
   toward the north. The aurora's energetic particles originated from CMEs
   ejected from our Sun over sunspot AR 6443 a few days before. This large
   active region rotated to the far side of the Sun last week, but may
   well survive to rotate back toward the Earth next week.

                      Tomorrow's picture: hungry cloud
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

