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.
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. Explanation:What spooky planet is this?Planet Earth on a dark and stormy night, of course. The ghostly scene wasphotographed at Hverir, a geothermally active area found along northeastern Iceland'svolcanic landscape. Triggered bysolar activity,geomagnetic stormshave unleashed energetic particles trapped in Earth's magnetic field. Penetrating the planet's upper atmosphere at high latitudes, the particles createauroral displaysin the starry night sky. Ghostly towers of steam and gas are venting fromlocal fumaroles to danceagainst the eerie, greenish northern lights. For now, auroral activity on planet Earth remains in a high state as the Sun is only in early phases of decline from the peak of itssolar activity cycle. And soon, other ghostly apparitions may dance in your neighborhood.Happy Halloween!Tomorrow's picture:Sunday's Childe