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.

2004 November 17
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Aurora Over Wisconsin
Credit & Copyright: Chris VenHaus

Explanation: The auroral displays of the past week are being reported as some of the most beautiful in memory. In particular, impressive auroral bands fanned out over much of eastern North America after sunset on November 8. The multicoloured aurora pictured above was caught reflecting in one of the many small lakes in central Wisconsin near that time. Continued solar activity might create more aurora visible over the next few nights as the Leonids meteor shower peaks.

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