What glows in the night? This night featured a combination of usual and unusual glows. Perhaps the most usual glow was from the Moon , a potentially familiar object. The full Moon's nearly vertical descent results from the observer being near Earth's equator . As the Moon sets, air and aerosol s in Earth's atmosphere preferentially scatter out blue light, making the Sun-reflecting satellite appear reddish when near the horizon. Perhaps the most unusual glow was from the bioluminescent plankton , likely less familiar objects. These microscopic creatures glow blue, it is thought, primarily to surprise and deter predators . In this case, the glow was caused primarily by plankton-containing waves crashing onto the beach. The image was taken on Soneva Fushi Island , Maldives just over one year ago.
Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (post 1995)
Media Credits & Attribution
Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek / Institute of Physics in Opava