挪威上空的極光蜂鳥
Auroral Hummingbird over Norway
來源：Mickael Coulon｜發表日期：2025-02-10
這是有史以來最大的蜂鳥嗎？ 雖然它看起來像一隻流行的飛舞的蜜鳥，但圖片上的東西實際上是一個精美細緻、色彩斑斕的極光，其中的射線讓人聯想到羽毛。這道極光如此明亮，以至於在 "藍色時刻"--日落之後，天空呈現出逐漸變暗的藍色，肉眼就能看到它。 不過，透過靈敏的相機只能捕捉到微弱的光芒，極光看起來就像一隻蜂鳥。由於紅色極光通常比綠色極光出現在地球大氣層的更高處，因此這道極光的真實三維形狀可能會顯得很陌生。 極光是太陽爆炸導致高能粒子流入地球大氣層並激發氮和氧原子和分子時產生的。 這張特寫圖片是大約兩週前在挪威林格賽特上空拍攝的。
原文：Is this the largest hummingbird ever? Although it may look like a popular fluttering nectarivore, what is pictured is actually a beautifully detailed and colorful aurora, complete with rays reminiscent of feathers. This aurora was so bright that it was visible to the unaided eye during blue hour -- just after sunset when the sky appears a darkening blue. However, the aurora only looked like a hummingbird through a sensitive camera able to pick up faint glows. As reds typically occurring higher in the Earth's atmosphere than the greens, the real 3D shape of this aurora would likely appear unfamiliar. Auroras are created when an explosion on the Sun causes high energy particles to flow into the Earth's atmosphere and excite atoms and molecules of nitrogen and oxygen. The featured image was captured about two weeks ago above Lyngseidt, Norway.
※ 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。