圣诞树形的极光

2024年12月23日

Christmas Tree Aurora
Image Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang

Explanation: It was December and the sky lit up like a Christmas tree. Shimmering, the vivid green, blue, and purple auroral colors that formed the tree-like apparition were caused by high atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen reacting to a burst of incoming electrons. Collisions caused the orbital electrons of atoms and molecules to jump into excited energy states and emit visible light when returning to their normal state. The featured image was captured in Djúpivogur, Iceland during the last month of 2023. Our Sun is currently in its most energetic phase of its 11-year cycle, with its high number of active regions and sunspots likely to last into next year. Of course, the Sun has been near solar maximum during this entire year, with its outbursts sometimes resulting in spectacular Earthly auroras.

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Tomorrow’s picture: star tree

圣诞树形的极光
影像提供与版权: Jingyi Zhang（张敬宜）

说明: 在那年的十二月，天空有棵点亮的圣诞树。而这些树形的绿色、蓝色和紫色闪烁极光，则是高层大气中的氧和氮与涌入的成群电子发生反应所致。更精确的来说，碰撞让原子和分子的轨道电子跃迁到激发态，然后在返回基态时释放出可见光。这张主题影像，是在2023年12月摄于冰岛的久比沃古（Djúpivogur）。目前的太阳处在它11年活动周期的最活跃阶段，表面出现大量活跃区和太阳黑子的状态预计会持续到明年。想当然耳，今年全年都处在活动极大期的太阳，所发生的爆发有时会为地球带来壮观的极光。