This amazing image of the northern lights was a lucky shot for an astrophotographer hoping for an awesome aurora view.
Photographer Manish Mamtani took the image from Long Lake Recreation Area in Wisconsin on March 17 and recently shared the stunning view with Space.com.
"I was a little late for the northern lights show and was just able to capture a glimpse of auroras before the clouds moved in,” Mamtani wrote in an email. [Breathtaking Aurora Photos of 2015 by Stargazers]
Auroras are caused when charged particles from the sun slam into Earth's magnetosphere and interact with particles in our planet's atmosphere. At different altitudes, the solar particles are likely to collide with different types of atoms, producing different colored auroras.
To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by Space.com readers, visit our astrophotography archive.
Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.
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