Page 7 - BBC Focus Earth From Above - 2017 UK
P. 7
EUROPE
IBE R I A N P E NIN S ULA
Night glow
From a window on the International
Space Station an astronaut captures all
582,000km of the Iberian Peninsula,
2
which is made up of Spain, Portugal,
Gibraltar and Andorra. Although it may
look like the Northern Lights (aurora
borealis) hovering above Europe, the green
shell of otherworldly light is actually
‘airglow’ (also known as ‘nightglow’) – a
photochemical reaction that occurs when
ultraviolet radiation from the Sun excites
atoms in the upper atmosphere.
PHOTO: NASA
