STS101-304-30 Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record.
| STS-101 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights |
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| STS101-304-30 |
STS101-304-30 Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record. |
| Airglow: The thin greenish band above the horizon is airglow; radiation emitted by the atmosphere from a layer about 30 km thick and about 100 km altitude. The predominant emission in airglow is the green 5577 Angstrom wavelength emission from atomic oxygen atoms, which is also the predominant emission from the aurora. A yellow-orange color is also seen in airglow, which is the emission of the 5800 Angstrom wavelength from sodium atoms. Airglow is always and everywhere present in the atmosphere; it results from the recombination of molecules that have been broken apart by solar radiation during the day. But airglow is so faint that it can only be seen at night by looking "edge on" at the emission layer, such as the view astronauts have in orbit. Tom Jones gives a nice astronaut perspective of airglow on the web at http://neurolab.jsc.nasa.gov/jones.htm. |
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This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science Directorate. Recommended Citation: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth." . |
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