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image credit & copyright: Max Rive



raise your arms if you see an aurora

with those instructions, two nights went by with, well, clouds -- mostly

on the third night of returning to same peaks, though, the sky not only cleared up but lit up with a spectacular auroral display

arms went high in the air, patience and experience paid off, and the creative featured image was captured as a composite from three separate exposures

the setting is a summit of the Austnesfjorden fjord close to the town of Svolvear on the Lofoten islands in northern Norway

the time was early 2014

although our Sun is nearing Solar Minimum and hence showing relatively little surface activity, holes in the upper corona have provided some nice auroral displays







































in apod.nasa.gov/apod