Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: Vivid auroral displays were triggered by a cloud of high energy particles from the Sun that collided with planet Earth's magnetosphere yesterday, October 29, at about 06:30 Universal time. The collision was anticipated, following an intense solar flare and coronal mass ejection detected on October 28, and many anxious skywatchers were rewarded with an enjoyable light show. And while aurorae don't normally haunt skies in the southern United States, they were reported from locations in Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, and California in the early morning hours. Near Yampa, Colorado astronomer Jimmy Westlake also spent the early morning enjoying the stormy space weather and was impressed by this colorful apparition of northern lights. The auroral glow is produced by excited oxygen and nitrogen molecules interacting with energetic electrons in the thin atmosphere at altitudes of 100 kilometers or more.