New Delhi, May 22 (IANS). A spectacular and mysterious glow is continuously visible in the Earth’s atmosphere, which scientists call ‘airglow’. In a recent picture taken from the International Space Station (ISS), the Earth is seen bathed in orange light. This beautiful glow is the result of airglow.
Airglow isn’t just a pretty sight. This is very useful for scientists. This reveals the temperature, density, structure and speed of winds of the upper atmosphere. It shows how high winds circulate in the ionosphere and spread various gases across the Earth. On April 13, 2026, NASA astronaut Chris Williams captured a beautiful photo from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, in which the Milky Way Galaxy is clearly visible above the airglow. NASA showed the beauty of airglow by posting the picture on the official Instagram.
Now let us understand what is Airglow? When the rays (radiation) coming from the Sun hit the molecules and atoms present in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, they get excited. These are filled with extra energy. As these molecules return to their normal relaxed state, they release that extra energy as light. This light is called airglow.
This glow can be red, green, purple and yellow. This phenomenon happens continuously day and night, but is so faint that it is not easily visible with normal eyes. To see it, one has to either see it from space or take the help of a sensitive camera in a very dark place on Earth.
Airglow is often confused with aurora lights, but there is a big difference between the two. Auroras are formed when particles from the Sun’s high-energy solar wind collide with Earth’s magnetic field, creating excitation in the atmosphere.
At the same time, airglow is produced by normal sunlight. This is the result of everyday solar radiation. Sometimes the molecules ionized by sunlight also emit light after colliding with free electrons. In both the situations, photon i.e. light particle is emitted, which shows a very beautiful glow.
–IANS
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