Tag Archives: chemiluminescence

airglow_lco_beletsky

The Milky Way photographed from Chile after sunset on Tuesday surrounded by the ripples of airglow Australis. NASA explains:

Above a sea of clouds and flanking the celestial Milky Way, the airglow seems to ripple and flow across the northern horizon in atmospheric waves. Originating at an altitude similar to aurorae, the luminous airglow is instead due to chemiluminescence, the production of light through chemical excitation. Commonly captured with a greenish tinge by sensitive digital cameras, this reddish airglow emission is from OH molecules and oxygen atoms at extremely low densities and has often been present in southern hemisphere nights during the last few years.

Larger image here.

Astronomy Picture of the Day (NASA)