Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: Gusting solar winds and blasts of charged particles from the Sun resulted in several rewarding nights of aurorae back in 2014 December, near the peak of the last 11-year solar cycle. The featured image captured dramatic aurorae stretching across a sky near the town of Yellowknife in northern Canada. The aurorae were so bright that they not only inspired awe, but were easily visible on an image exposure of only 1.3 seconds. A video taken concurrently shows the dancing sky lights evolving in real time as tourists, many there just to see aurorae, respond with cheers. The conical dwellings on the image right are tipis, while far in the background, near the image centre, is the constellation of Orion. Aurorae may increase again over the next few years as our Sun again approaches solar maximum.