Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Southern Lights and Shuttle Glow

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 6, 1996 is “Southern Lights and Shuttle Glow,” an image. It is credited to Credit: STS-39 Crew, NASA. The original explanation runs about 116 words.

Southern Lights and Shuttle Glow
Credit: STS-39 Crew, NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“A background of distant stars, sinuous and spiky bands of Southern Lights (Aurora Australis) , and the faint glow of charged plasma (ionized atomic gas) surrounding the Space Shuttle Discovery’s engines give this photo from the STS-39 mission an eerie, otherworldly look.”

— APOD editors, May 6, 1996

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
May 6, 1996
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: STS-39 Crew, NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 116 words

All of May 1996 → · 1996 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Auroras

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: May 6 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.