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                        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.

                               2025 January 7
    A star field appears above a town at night. The left part of the sky
   shows a pinkish-red glow that is an aurora, while the right part of the
   sky shows a smoother and darker glow that is a SAR arc. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                       A New Year's Aurora and SAR Arc
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Alessandra Masi

   Explanation: It was a new year, and the sky was doubly red. The new
   year meant that the Earth had returned to its usual place in its orbit
   on January 1, a place a few days before its closest approach to the
   Sun. The first of the two red skyglows, on the left, was a red aurora,
   complete with vertical rays, caused by a blast from the Sun pushing
   charged particles into Earth's atmosphere. The second red glow, most
   prominent on the far right, was possibly a SAR arc caused by a river of
   charged particles flowing across Earth's atmosphere. Although both
   appear red, the slight color difference is likely due to the aurora
   being emitted by both oxygen and nitrogen, whereas the higher SAR arc
   was possibly emitted more purely by atmospheric oxygen. The featured
   image was taken on January 1 from near Pieve di Cadore in Italy.

                   Portal Universe: Random APOD Generator
                   Tomorrow's picture: supernovas (plural)
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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