奧羅拉聖誕樹
Christmas Tree Aurora
來源：Jingyi Zhang｜發表日期：2024-12-23
時值十二月，天空像聖誕樹一樣亮了起來。閃閃發光，鮮豔的綠色、藍色和紫色極光顏色形成了樹狀的幻影，這是由於大氣中的高氧和高氮與迸發的電子發生反應所致。 碰撞導致原子和分子的軌道電子躍遷到激發能態，並在返回正常狀態時發出可見光。這張照片是 2023 年最後一個月在冰島 Djúpivogur 拍攝的。太陽目前正處於其 11 年週期中能量最旺盛的階段，其活躍區域和太陽黑子數量之多可能會持續到明年。當然，太陽在這一整年中都接近太陽最大值，其爆發有時會導致地球上出現壯觀的極光。 影像處理器：參加 NASA 天體攝影挑戰賽
原文：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. Collisions caused the orbital electrons of atoms and molecules to jump into excited energy states and emit visible light when returning to their normal state. The featured image was captured in Djúpivogur, Iceland during the last month of 2023. Our Sun is currently in its most energetic phase of its 11-year cycle, with its high number of active regions and sunspots likely to last into next year. Of course, the Sun has been near solar maximum during this entire year, with its outbursts sometimes resulting in spectacular Earthly auroras. Image Processors: Take NASA's Astrophoto Challenge
※ 本文由萌芽機器人自動轉貼自每日一天文圖（Astronomy Picture of the Day，APOD），原文為英文，正體中文是透過 DeepL 翻譯及 OpenCC 進行自動處理，內容僅供參考，若有任何錯誤之處還請見諒！
關於每日一天文圖：每日一天文圖網站是美國國家航空暨太空總署與密西根理工大學提供的服務，網站每天提供一張影像或圖片，並由天文學家撰寫扼要說明其特別之處。