The Milky Way With Airglow

Title

The Milky Way With Airglow

Artist

Gales Of November

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Airglow is the natural “glowing” of the Earth’s atmosphere. It happens all the time and across the whole globe.

With nightglow seen here, a process called “chemiluminescence” is responsible for the glowing atmosphere.

Sunlight deposits energy into the atmosphere during the day, some of which is transferred to oxygen molecules (e.g. O₂). This extra energy causes the oxygen molecules to rip apart into individual oxygen atoms. This happens particularly around 100km in altitude. However, atomic oxygen isn’t able to get rid of this excess energy easily and so acts as a “store” of energy for several hours.

Eventually the atomic oxygen does manage to “recombine”, once again forming molecular oxygen. The molecular oxygen then releases energy, again in the form of light. Several different colours are produced, including a “bright” green emission.

Isle Royale is located in Lake Superior. It is the least visited National Park in the country. Less than one percent of the island is developed with the remainder designated as wilderness.

Tobin Harbor is located on the northeast end of Isle Royale. It was home to a small resort community before the island became a park.

Here the Milky way is visible over Rock Harbor on Isle Royale while the sky glows green with airglow. The setting moon gives definition to the trees and casts a pool of light on the water just in front of them while a passing satellite crosses the Milky Way at the top of the image.

Uploaded

November 14th, 2022

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