You have probably seen one of these before, gorgeous auroras that appear in our planet’s atmosphere. Still, I bet you’ve never seen one like this.
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00:00You've probably seen one of these before, gorgeous auroras that appear in our planet's
00:08atmosphere.
00:09But I bet you've never seen one like this.
00:11This video was recently captured by Matthew Dominic, a flight engineer on the International
00:15Space Station.
00:16And this is a time-lapse of an aurora from space, showing the moment the moon sets behind
00:21Earth.
00:22Moments later the station lights up and the aurora all but disappears, as the sun rises
00:27on the other side of the planet.
00:29Auroras are caused when solar flares and coronal mass ejections send particles hurling
00:33in our direction through space.
00:35Those particles then slam into our planet's magnetosphere and interact with our atmosphere's
00:39oxygen and nitrogen.
00:41That collision and subsequent interaction forces them to shed excess energy, causing
00:45their atoms to glow in beautiful reds, greens, and purples.
00:48And despite auroras being known to put on the best show in places like Iceland, this
00:52video proves that no one has a better view than those aboard the ISS.