Moonbreak

As seen on Science@NASA moonshine and dancing lights of aurora above Alaskan landscape.

As noted by the photographer “It was an April evening in the Knik Valley, just north of Anchorage. The moon was swinging around to the west preparing to slide towards the north and disappear behind the horizon. I had my cameras originally facing magnetic north, trying to capture my usual 150 horizontal angle of view of the auroral arc. The eastern end of the aurora arc was getting weak, as the aurora seemed to be breaking up at that moment. I noticed the moon off to the left, shining through a thin cloud patch, and I thought it would make a nice addition to this shot”. The Knik Glacier, as one of the largest glaciers in south-central Alaska is located 80 km north of Anchorage on the northern end of the Chugach Mountains.