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  Image: Geographic Location Photo #: ISS003-E-6816 Date: Sep. 2001
Geographic Region: AURORA
Feature: RED AURORA, ATMOSPHERIC LIMB

Ordering information for space photography
 
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  View Low-Resolution Image  
  Red Aurora as Seen from the Space Station:
Red colors of the aurora are dominant in this image captured by a digital still camera in mid September 2001. Auroras are caused when high-energy electrons pour down from the Earth's magnetosphere and collide with atoms. Red aurora occurs from 200 km to as high as 500 km altitude and is caused by the emission of 6300 Angstrom wavelength light from oxygen atoms. The light is emitted when the atoms return to their original unexcited state. The white spot in the image is from a light on the inside of the Station that is reflected off the inside of the window. The pale blue arch on the left side of the frame is sunlight reflecting of the atmospheric limb of the Earth.

At times of peaks in solar activity, there are more geomagnetic storms and this increases the auroral activity viewed on Earth and by astronauts from orbit. By using a digital camera with a long exposure time, astronauts can capture a part of the light from the multicolored displays they observe, and downlink those images to Earth.
 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 11k
Mission: ISS003  
Roll - Frame: E - 6816
Geographical Name: AURORA  
Features: RED AURORA, ATMOSPHERIC LIMB  
Center Lat x Lon: N x E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 0
 
Camera: E2
 
Camera Tilt:   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 35  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction:   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number:  
 
Date: 20010914   YYYYMMDD
Time:   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth:   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude:   nautical miles
Sun Elevation:   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:  
Water Views:  
Atmosphere Views: AURORA  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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