Theta aurora
The theta aurora as seen by NASA's IMAGE satellite on 15 September 2005.
The green lines show latitude and longitude lines and the outlines of the continents; Australia is to the right, South America is to the left and Antarctica is in the middle. The theta aurora is seen slightly off-centre, above the right-hand side of Antarctica in this orientation, its characteristic shape defined by the 'bar' connecting the auroral oval. The bright region to the left is 'day glow' (the sunlit atmosphere).
The resolution of the image is 256 × 256 pixels, which is the native resolution of the far-ultraviolet Wideband Imaging Camera.
Last Update: 1 September 2019