Dave Brosha is a photographer who loves to capture spectacular and unusual night sky scenes -- his picture of another photographer silhouetted against an aurora graced this blog in November 2011. He just sent me two more he took last night. He went to Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The aurorae were active last night as the Sun's recent hissy fit sparked a geomagnetic storm, but by the time Dave go his equipment set up, the Moon was up and the aurorae fading. But never one to waste an opportunity, he took this incredibly dramatic and moving picture:
Stunning. [Click to enannulenate.] Ice crystals suspended in the air refract (bend) light from the Moon, and due to their geometry they create a ring around it. This is common in winter, but it's rare -- at least in the lower 48 -- to get one this bright. The bright ...
