Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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 October 12 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Northern Lights, West Virginia Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Jonathan Eggleston Explanation: A gravel country lane gently winds through this [5]colorful rural night skyscape. Captured from Monroe County in southern West Virginia on the evening of October 10, the starry sky above is a familiar sight. Shimmering curtains of aurora borealis or northern lights definitely do not make regular appearances here, though. Surprisingly vivid auroral displays were present on that night at very low latitudes [6]around the globe, far from their usual northern and southern [7]high latitude realms. The extensive auroral activity was evidence of a severe [8]geomagnetic storm triggered by the impact of a [9]coronal mass ejection (CME) , an immense magnetized cloud of energetic plasma. The CME was launched toward Earth from the active Sun following a powerful [10]X-class solar flare. Growing Gallery: [11]Global aurora during October 10/11, 2024 Tomorrow's picture: aurora in motion __________________________________________________________________ [12]< | [13]Archive | [14]Submissions | [15]Index | [16]Search | [17]Calendar | [18]RSS | [19]Education | [20]About APOD | [21]Discuss | [22]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell ([26]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [27]Specific rights apply. [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC, [32]NASA Science Activation & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2410/241010_eggleston.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.astrobin.com/users/WVAstronomy/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240516.html 6. https://spaceweathergallery2.com/index.php?&starting_point=0 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231117.html 8. https://spaceweather.com/ 9. https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/CMEs.shtml 10. https://blogs.nasa.gov/solarcycle25/2024/10/09/sun-releases-strong-solar-flare-17/ 11. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.530876019640980 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241011.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241012 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241013.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 33. http://www.mtu.edu/