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Taken by Winona Campbell on January 5, 2016 @ Dinuba, CA
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Is this for real? I say it's not; my bro says it is. I do follow you daily on Spaceweather.com and collect my favorites shots of auroras.
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You are right. This, at best, is an overlay of an aurora on top of a fake globe. All google image searches that has this image claim it is from NASA but dont give a link to their source.
Posted by richlite 2016-01-04 19:30:41
As richlite says, it is obviously a fake.
1) In this image the center of aurora oval seems to be located at the north pole, judging from the terrain. However, the center of the actual aurora should be located at the north magnetic pole.
2) The night part of the Earth is too bright. Actual difference of brightness between sunlit part and night part must be very big. So, under the condition that the sunlit part can be seen in an adequate exposure, the night part should not be able to be seen, especially the area without any artificial lights. Any meteorological geostationary satellites take photo in which the night part is quite dark.
(Judging from that the terminator seems to cross the north pole, this image assumes that it is vernal or autumnal equinox?)
3) Aurora in the night part should be more active than that in the daytime part, because the plasma sheet spreads towards the opposite side to the Sun, i.e., the night part.
Posted by shiram 2016-01-05 06:07:49
I think the aurora part of the image is the flame of a cooker gas ring.
Posted by astromakem 2016-01-06 04:01:11
Its an artist impression from a NASA video
Posted by 1simb2 2016-01-06 23:42:42
 
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