Icelandic Legends and Aurora
Image Credit & Copyright: Elizabeth M. Ryan; Rollover Annotation: Judy Schmidt
Explanation: Legends collide in this dramatic vista of land, sea, and sky. The land is Iceland, specifically
Vík í Mýrdal, a southern village known for its beautiful
black sand beaches. The sea, the
Atlantic Ocean, surrounds
Reynisdrangar, a sea stack of eroded basaltic rock
pillars that
Icelandic folklore tells are the petrified remains of
trolls once attempting to drag a
three-masted ship onto land.
Watching from overhead and shining bright on the upper right is the
god of the sky, according to
Greek mythology: the
planet Jupiter. Also visible in the sky are several other Greek legends encapsulated as
constellations, including a lion (
Leo), a big bear (
Ursa Major), and a water snake (
Hydra). One might guess that all of this commotion caused the
spectacular aurora pictured -- but really it was just
explosions from the Sun.
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