                        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 October 12

                       Northern Lights, West Virginia
                Image Credit & Copyright: Jonathan Eggleston

   Explanation: A gravel country lane gently winds through this 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 around the globe, far from their usual northern and
   southern high latitude realms. The extensive auroral activity was
   evidence of a severe geomagnetic storm triggered by the impact of a
   coronal mass ejection (CME)
   , an immense magnetized cloud of energetic plasma. The CME was launched
   toward Earth from the active Sun following a powerful X-class solar
   flare.

          Growing Gallery: Global aurora during October 10/11, 2024
                    Tomorrow's picture: aurora in motion
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

