A NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has captured a spectacular image of the Northern Lights from the cosmos. Josh Cassada, who launched to the ISS in October, shared the stunning photo of the aurora on Twitter. The picture shows the ISS sticking out in front of luminous green swirls blanketing the Earth among the stars.
Mr Cassada gave the picture a simple caption of “absolutely unreal”.
And many agreed. One viewer even called it “one of the most stunning shots” they had ever seen. Another said the photo has “just blown my socks off”.
ISS astronauts are often treated to spectacular displays down below as the space station offers unique views of the planet which most people will never get to see in their entire lifetime.
The space station orbits Earth at around 250 miles and makes around 16 trips around the blue planet on a daily basis.
But the view of the aurora from up above may have looked particularly extraordinary as the phenomenon stretched much further than the usual area it covers.
Earlier this week, a solar flare erupting on the Sun caused strong geomagnetic storms to occur in the Earth’s atmosphere.
When solar storms reach Earth, they can cause impacts on the magnetic field and result in the phenomena known as aurora or the Northern Lights.
But in the UK, when this happens it is usually only those in Scotland who might have a chance at catching a glimpse. However, lucky onlookers as far south as Cornwall were treated by the stunning displays in a rare occasion for thousands of people.
Photographer Gary Pearson, who watched the display from Brancaster Staithe in Norfolk on Sunday, told BBC News: “We had a fantastic showing from the northern lights last night.
“The aurora was clearly visible to the naked eye, though it was the long exposure taken by the camera that picked up the extremely vivid colours.”
Nick Harvey, wrote on Twitter: “The #NorthernLights from Crowborough, East Sussex are taking my breath away.”
Auroras are best viewed in a clear and dark sky. Royal Museums Greenwich stated that “dark and clear nights, preferably with little light pollution, offer the best chance of seeing the aurora.”
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But from up above, the view of the aurora could not be beaten.
Mr Cassada came on board alongside three other crewmembers of SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission. These include NASA Nicole Mann, as well as Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
It is expected to be the Crew-5’s last week on board the ISS as they are set to return to Earth around five days after SpaceX’s Crew-6 mission arrives.
NASA and billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX aborted a crewed rocket launch two minutes before lift-off on Monday. Crew-6 is scheduled for launch early Thursday morning from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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