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Astronaut Shares Ethereal Aurora Footage
10 Jun
Summary
- Jessica Meir recorded vibrant green southern lights from the ISS.
- The aurora australis was visible due to a recent solar event.
- Other planets and moons also exhibit auroral displays.
On Sunday, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, commander of the Crew-12 mission, shared breathtaking footage of the aurora australis. Recorded from the International Space Station on Saturday, the one-minute time-lapse captured vibrant green lights pulsing and swaying over Earth's Southern Hemisphere.
Meir described the aurora as unlike any she had previously witnessed, noting how it "danced and snaked its way directly below us." She attributed the spectacular display to a recent solar event that caused energetic particles to collide with Earth's magnetic field.
The aurora australis, or southern lights, is the counterpart to the aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere. This phenomenon highlights the dynamic interactions between the sun and our planet, with other celestial bodies like Jupiter's moons, Neptune, and Mars also experiencing their own auroras.
