Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Christmas Tree Aurora

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 23, 2024 is “Christmas Tree Aurora,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang). The original explanation runs about 138 words.

A star filled night sky is shown with aurora visible in blue, purple and green. The aurora could be perceived to be a spruce tree, or even a Christmas tree. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“It was December and the sky lit up like a Christmas tree. Shimmering, the vivid green, blue, and purple auroral colors that formed the tree-like apparition were caused by high atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen reacting to a burst of incoming electrons.”

— APOD editors, December 23, 2024

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 23, 2024
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 138 words

All of December 2024 → · 2024 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The SunAuroras

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 23 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.