: light that is observed especially during the night, that originates in the high atmosphere of a planet (such as the earth), and that is associated with photochemical reactions of gases caused by solar radiation
Examples of airglow in a Sentence
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Both processes contribute to what’s known as airglow, which, for example, shows up in photographs from orbit as arcs of color above the horizon.
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Phil Plait, Scientific American, 4 Oct. 2024
Processes in the ionosphere can create bright swaths of color in the sky, known as airglow, as seen here from the International Space Station.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Aug. 2024
This is, in fact, a phenomenon known as airglow.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 24 Dec. 2019
Alex took the original astronaut pictures and enhanced them somewhat to bring out the faint airglow.
—Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 11 June 2012
There is also a glowing halo of oxygen in the planet's atmosphere called airglow, a type of light that also exists in Earth's atmosphere.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 10 Feb. 2022
While the clouds and airglow features changed, the swoosh remained.
—Steven D. Miller, The Conversation, 26 Aug. 2021
In order for those faint galaxies to stand out from the sky’s airglow, astronomers already needed long exposures on the biggest telescopes in the darkest sites available.
—Joshua Sokol, Science | AAAS, 28 Mar. 2021
Atmospheric airglow, and red and green aurorae from atomic oxygen.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 20 Dec. 2016
Phil Plait, Scientific American, 4 Oct. 2024
Processes in the ionosphere can create bright swaths of color in the sky, known as airglow, as seen here from the International Space Station.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Aug. 2024
This is, in fact, a phenomenon known as airglow.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 24 Dec. 2019
Alex took the original astronaut pictures and enhanced them somewhat to bring out the faint airglow.
—Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 11 June 2012
There is also a glowing halo of oxygen in the planet's atmosphere called airglow, a type of light that also exists in Earth's atmosphere.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 10 Feb. 2022
While the clouds and airglow features changed, the swoosh remained.
—Steven D. Miller, The Conversation, 26 Aug. 2021
In order for those faint galaxies to stand out from the sky’s airglow, astronomers already needed long exposures on the biggest telescopes in the darkest sites available.
—Joshua Sokol, Science | AAAS, 28 Mar. 2021
Atmospheric airglow, and red and green aurorae from atomic oxygen.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 20 Dec. 2016
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'airglow.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Airglow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/airglow. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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