Watch auroras paint the sky above Earth in these stunning astronaut photos and video

News
By Meghan Bartels
published

It's aurora season on the International Space Station and astronauts living and working in orbit are sharing some of their finest views of the stunning phenomenon with those of us on the ground.

Auroras paint the sky with eerie shades of greens and reds and occur when charged particles from the sun slam into Earth's atmosphere. Circling the North Pole, the spectacle is dubbed the aurora borealis or northern lights; the southern equivalent is the aurora australis. The latter has been particularly prolific for the past week or so, according to European Space Station astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who has been sharing photos and video of the auroral displays.

"These last few days have been auroraspectacular!," Pesquet wrote in a tweet posted on Saturday (Aug. 7). "What a show nature put on for us."

And then today: "An aurora a day keeps the boredom away" Pesquet wrote of his latest stunning photo.

Aurora photos: Amazing northern lights display from solar storms
Related: Where to see the northern lights: 2021 aurora borealis guide

Image 1 of 5
European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet captured a view of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and the space station's new Russian Nauka science module against a backdrop of glowing aurora on Aug. 3, 2021.
European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet captured a view of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and the space station's new Russian Nauka science module against a backdrop of glowing aurora on Aug. 3, 2021.(Image credit: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet)

While Pesquet has been most prolific at sharing his front-row view of the atmospheric display, he has company in his skygazing. NASA colleague Shane Kimbrough shared two views as well in a Twitter post on Monday (Aug. 9).

"Magical aurora sightings this weekend from @Space_Station," he wrote. "The white dots on the bottom half of the pic are stars — millions of them! Can you pick out the Orion constellation in the 1st photo?"

The space station's own Twitter account got in on the action as well, sharing four different views of the aurora australis over the Indian Ocean on Aug. 4, although the post does not specify which astronaut snagged the photographs.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Meghan Bartels
Meghan Bartels
Senior Writer

Meghan is a senior writer at Space.com and has more than five years' experience as a science journalist based in New York City. She joined Space.com in July 2018, with previous writing published in outlets including Newsweek and Audubon. Meghan earned an MA in science journalism from New York University and a BA in classics from Georgetown University, and in her free time she enjoys reading and visiting museums. Follow her on Twitter at @meghanbartels.