Today's Image

‘Absolutely insane airglow’

Posted by

and

May 12, 2018

Airglow is the light of excited atoms, high in Earth’s atmosphere. Yuri Beletsky captured this image on May 10, 2018 at Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. You can see the telescope domes in the foreground. He wrote:

Absolutely insane airglow from last night. Yes, what you see on this image are not clouds! That yellow/orangish light comes from the upper atmosphere. I couldn’t believe what I saw on the screen of my camera when I took the first image. It seems the atmosphere is pretty active now and it allows us to witness some incredible views. The Milky Way at parts was barely visible. I hope you’ll enjoy the view!

Thanks, Yuri!

Posted

May 12, 2018

in

Today's Image

Eleanor Imster

View Articles

About the Author:

Eleanor Imster has helped write and edit EarthSky since 1995. She was an integral part of the award-winning EarthSky radio series almost since it began until it ended in 2013. She and her husband live in Tennessee, where they enjoy guitar playing and singing. They have 2 grown sons.