NASA posts beautiful picture of Earth's 'airglow'

Trust NASA to send stunning pictures of the cosmos our way. There are tonnes of images that are simply wow and the trickle doesn't appear to slow down as the space agency points its lenses towards the space and bringsus images from even distant corners.

Among the latest ones that have mesmerised the peopleis an image of the only planet we call home. And it's just not any pic. This image captures Earth's 'airglow' with the moon shining just above. The image was captured just last week, on November 14 from the ISS (International Space Station).

NASA has posted the image from its Instagram handle.

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"A view of Earth from the space station during orbital night. The Moon is above earth nearly centered above the surface. An airglow outlines the atmosphere above the Earth's surface in a yellow shade. Lights from cities dot Earth's surface – among them, a concentration of lights near the horizon identifies the city of Chicago, while the concentration of lights closer to the bottom left identifies Denver," wrote NASA.

The agency explains what exactly is an 'airglow' -Atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere get energised due to sunlight, and as they shed their excess energy, it leads to an airglow.

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So are airglow and auroras the same? Not quite.

Auroras are formed when charged particles emitted by the Sun interact with Earth's magnetic field.

Also Read | A mysterious phenomenon is changing the Earth's core. Here's how

"Studying airflow gives us a peek into 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," says NASA.

The image has got more than 700,000 likes and Instagram users have expressed their opinions (ALL positive) in the comments below the post.