NASA highlights Icelandic auroras in its Halloween astronomy feature
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day featured auroras above the geothermal landscape of Hverir in northeastern Iceland on 31 October. The US agency’s science publication credits photographer Stéphane Vetter for the scene of green northern lights behind columns of steam and gas.
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The accompanying explanation links the auroral light to energetic particles entering Earth’s upper atmosphere at high latitudes during geomagnetic activity. The foreground columns come from local fumaroles, bringing geothermal emissions and an upper-atmospheric light display into the same view.
The publication describes auroral activity as remaining elevated while the Sun begins its decline from the peak of its activity cycle. Its 31 October date identifies the day NASA selected the feature; the page does not give the photograph’s capture date. The image is credited to its photographer and is not reproduced in this article.
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Source publication
Publication of the official announcement on 31 October 2026.
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NASA highlights Icelandic auroras in its Halloween astronomy feature
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day featured auroras above the geothermal landscape of Hverir in northeastern Iceland on 31 October. The US agency’s science publication credits photographer Stéphane Vetter for the scene of green northern lights behind columns of steam and gas.
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Subjects and places
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- Renewable energySuggested
- Subject suggested from the title or summary: geothermalscience.nasa.gov ↗
- Science and technologySuggested
- Preserved editorial category/topic; broad candidate onlyscience.nasa.gov ↗
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- United States · Place role: Coverage · Place type: Country or area · Location precision: RegionalEvidence
- Explicit preserved editorial country/region; no city or national centroid inferredscience.nasa.gov ↗