A photographer recently snapped images of vibrant green streaks of light hanging apparently motionless in the star-filled sky above a U.S. mountain range. The eerie light show may look like auroras, but it's actually an even rarer phenomenon.
At first, Watson believed the lights belonged to noctilucent, or night shining, clouds, which were forecast to become more frequent in June and July this year. But as the vibrant colors emerged, this seemed unlikely. He also speculated they could be a slow-moving auroral display or a related phenomena, such as STEVE or a stable auroral arc that was set off by a solar storm bashing into Earth.
A study published March 2021 in the journal JGR Space Physics, revealed that airglow has historically been most visible during previous solar maximums — the period of the roughly 11-year solar cycle where solar activity peaks and the sun releases more radiation and solar storms. Tracking changes in airglow can therefore help track solar cycle progression, according to NASA.
Image 1 of 2But airglow is created by gradual solar radiation, which ionizes, or strips electrons from, gas molecules during the day. At night, these ionized molecules react with gases carrying an extra electron to regain their lost particles. These reactions release a lot of energy, which is given off as light similar to those emitted by auroras. But it causes a more gradual and often fainter light show.
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