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Airglow occurs when atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light in order to shed their excess energy. Or, it can happen when atoms and molecules that have been ionized by sunlight collide with and capture a free electron. In both cases, they eject a particle of light — called a photon — in order to relax again. The phenomenon is similar to auroras, but where auroras are driven by high-energy particles originating from the solar wind, airglow is energized by day-to-day solar radiation.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 325035, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12902/#media_group_325035", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "

Music: \"Nature Daydream\" by Laurent Dury [SACEM], \"Grape Picking\" by Laurent Dury [SACEM] from Killer Tracks

Complete transcript available.

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

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Read more about the ICON mission: nasa.gov/icon || ", "release_date": "2018-10-19T13:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:46:19.698285-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 403264, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012900/a012971/ICONArrivalandUnboxingBroll.01193_print.jpg", "filename": "ICONArrivalandUnboxingBroll.01193_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "B-roll ICON being unboxed and lifted at Vandenberg Air Force Base.Credit: Cory Huston/NASA KSC", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 12699, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12699/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Meet ICON: NASA’s Airglow Explorer", "description": "Music credit: Design Principle by Wayne RobertsComplete transcript available. || iss_composite_test_182.jpg (4256x2832) [12.8 MB] || iss_composite_test_182_searchweb.png (320x180) [99.0 KB] || iss_composite_test_182_thm.png (80x40) [6.2 KB] || LARGE_MP4-12699_ICON_Overview_V2__large.mp4 (1920x1080) [148.3 MB] || NASA_TV-12699_ICON_Overview_V2_.mpeg (1280x720) [494.2 MB] || APPLE_TV-12699_ICON_Overview_V2__appletv.m4v (1280x720) [75.3 MB] || YOUTUBE_1080-12699_ICON_Overview_V2__youtube_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [234.8 MB] || PRORES_B-ROLL-12699_ICON_Overview_V2__prores.mov (1280x720) [1.9 GB] || YOUTUBE_HQ-12699_ICON_Overview_V2__youtube_hq.mov (1920x1080) [539.3 MB] || 12699_ICON_Overview_V2_.mov (1920x1080) [3.7 GB] || LARGE_MP4-12699_ICON_Overview_V2__large.webm (1920x1080) [16.3 MB] || APPLE_TV-12699_ICON_Overview_V2__appletv_subtitles.m4v (1280x720) [75.3 MB] || 12699_ICON_Overview_V2.en_US.srt [2.4 KB] || 12699_ICON_Overview_V2.en_US.vtt [2.5 KB] || NASA_PODCAST-12699_ICON_Overview_V2__ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [25.4 MB] || 12699_ICON_Overview_V2__lowres.mp4 (480x272) [20.3 MB] || ", "release_date": "2017-10-18T14:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:16.982399-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 411649, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012699/iss_composite_test_182.jpg", "filename": "iss_composite_test_182.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Music credit: Design Principle by Wayne RobertsComplete transcript available.", "width": 4256, "height": 2832, "pixels": 12052992 } }, { "id": 20265, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20265/", "page_type": "Animation", "title": "ICON Beauty Pass", "description": "Beauty pass showing ICON observing the ionosphere. Credit: NASA/GSFC/CIL || AirGlow_final_ProRes.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [87.7 KB] || AirGlow_final_ProRes.00001_web.png (320x180) [74.1 KB] || AirGlow_final_ProRes.00001_searchweb.png (180x320) [74.1 KB] || AirGlow_final_ProRes.00001_thm.png (80x40) [6.0 KB] || AirGlow_final_H264.mov (1920x1080) [19.5 MB] || 1920x1080_16x9_60p (1920x1080) [0 Item(s)] || AirGlow_final_ProRes.webm (1920x1080) [1.0 MB] || AirGlow_final_ProRes.mov (1920x1080) [304.3 MB] || ", "release_date": "2017-04-03T13:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:47.482345-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 415357, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a020000/a020200/a020265/AirGlow_final_ProRes.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "AirGlow_final_ProRes.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Beauty pass showing ICON observing the ionosphere. 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Yellow lights near the coast show the presence of cities, while interior oragne lights indicate brush fires.http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov || ", "release_date": "2013-10-17T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-03-02T00:20:39.886218-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 429031, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a030000/a030100/a030179/iss029_aurora_20110917_print.jpg", "filename": "iss029_aurora_20110917_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Time lapse photos of Aurora Australis", "width": 1024, "height": 574, "pixels": 587776 } } ], "sources": [ { "id": 12963, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12963/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Airglow Imagery", "description": "Airglow occurs when atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light in order to shed their excess energy. The phenomenon is similar to auroras, but where auroras are driven by high-energy particles originating from the solar wind, airglow is sparked by day-to-day solar radiation. Airglow carries information on the upper atmosphere’s temperature, density, and composition, but it also helps us trace how particles move through the region itself. Vast, high-altitude winds sweep through the ionosphere, pushing its contents around the globe — and airglow’s subtle dance follows their lead, highlighting global patterns. || ", "release_date": "2018-06-02T15:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-10-10T00:17:22.950679-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 403649, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012900/a012963/iss044e045565_NASA:Scott_Kelly.jpg", "filename": "iss044e045565_NASA:Scott_Kelly.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "PhotographSince November 2000, people have been living continuously on the International Space Station. To celebrate humanity's 15th anniversary off planet Earth, consider this snapshot from space of our galaxy and our home world posing together beyond the orbital outpost. The Milky Way stretches below the curve of Earth's limb in the scene that also records a faint red, extended airglow. The galaxy's central bulge appears with starfields cut by dark rifts of obscuring interstellar dust. The picture was taken by Astronaut Scott Kelly on August 9, 2015, the 135th day of his one-year mission in space.Credit: NASA/Scott Kelly", "width": 1600, "height": 1065, "pixels": 1704000 } }, { "id": 12960, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12960/", "page_type": "Infographic", "title": "Ionosphere Graphics", "description": "Stretching from roughly 50 to 400 miles above Earth’s surface, the ionosphere is an electrified layer of the upper atmosphere, generated by extreme ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. It’s neither fully Earth nor space, and instead, reacts to both terrestrial weather below and solar energy streaming in from above, forming a complex space weather system of its own. The particles of the ionosphere carry electrical charge that can disrupt communications signals, cause satellites in low-Earth orbit to become electrically charged, and, in extreme cases, cause power outages on the ground. Positioned on the edge of space and intermingled with the neutral atmosphere, the ionosphere’s response to conditions on Earth and in space is difficult to pin down. || ", "release_date": "2018-05-31T19:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:46:44.552542-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 403890, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012900/a012960/Airglow_Layers.jpg", "filename": "Airglow_Layers.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Stretching from roughly 50 to 400 miles above the surface, this region, called the ionosphere, is an electrified layer of the upper atmosphere, generated by extreme ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Understanding the ionosphere’s extreme variability is tricky because it requires detangling interactions between the different factors at play — interactions of which we don’t have a clear picture. That’s where airglow comes in. Airglow occurs when atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light in order to shed their excess energy. The phenomenon is similar to auroras, but where auroras are driven by high-energy particles originating from the solar wind, airglow is sparked by day-to-day solar radiation. Airglow carries information on the upper atmosphere’s temperature, density, and composition, but it also helps us trace how particles move through the region itself. Vast, high-altitude winds sweep through the ionosphere, pushing its contents around the globe — and airglow’s subtle dance follows their lead, highlighting global patterns. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith", "width": 1274, "height": 688, "pixels": 876512 } }, { "id": 12532, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12532/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Welcome to the Ionosphere", "description": "Music credit: Foxy Trot by Luis Enriquez Bacalov Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || ionosphere_thumb.jpg (1920x1080) [69.9 KB] || ionosphere_thumb_searchweb.png (320x180) [57.3 KB] || ionosphere_thumb_thm.png (80x40) [6.3 KB] || APPLE_TV-12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV4_appletv.webm (1280x720) [24.0 MB] || APPLE_TV-12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV4_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [116.4 MB] || APPLE_TV-12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV4_appletv_subtitles.m4v (1280x720) [116.5 MB] || YOUTUBE_1080-12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV4_youtube_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [346.2 MB] || NASA_TV-12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV4.mpeg (1280x720) [691.7 MB] || 12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV2_lowres.en_US.srt [3.8 KB] || 12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV2_lowres.en_US.vtt [3.8 KB] || 12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV4_lowres.mp4 (480x272) [29.2 MB] || LARGE_MP4-12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV4_large.mp4 (3840x2160) [220.8 MB] || NASA_PODCAST-12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV4_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [37.3 MB] || 12532_Welcome_to_the_ionosphere_bsideV4.mov (3840x2160) [10.1 GB] || ", "release_date": "2017-11-07T14:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:14.351322-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 415786, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012500/a012532/ionosphere_thumb.jpg", "filename": "ionosphere_thumb.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Music credit: Foxy Trot by Luis Enriquez Bacalov Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } ], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }