A breathtaking aurora borealis in the shape of a green, fire-breathing dragon swooped over Iceland in early February in a brilliant display of dazzling light.
Dragons may be the stuff of fairy tales and the imagination, but NASA on Feb. 18 released a very real and stunning photo of the aurora taken by Jingyi Zhang on Feb. 6 as its astronomy photo of the day.
The photographer’s mother, who ran out to see the spectacle, can be seen in the foreground amid a dark landscape with the aurora flashing overhead.
A stunning dragon-shaped aurora borealis was captured on camera earlier this month in #Iceland! Do you think it looks like it's breathing fire? 🐉https://t.co/si2lntbFhS pic.twitter.com/iFc5t3rwSk
— Iceland Naturally (@IcelandNatural) February 27, 2019
The colorful lights of the aurora are caused when charged particles from the sun collide with the Earth's upper atmosphere around the magnetic north and south poles.
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