The Northern Lights are one of the most impressive phenomena that can be seen on land. But have you ever wondered what they look like from space? To dispel your doubts, Bob Hines, NASA Astronaut, decided to take a picture of him from his seat on the International Space Station. Although a picture is worth a thousand words, we can sum it up in one word: impressive.
In your official account TwitterHines accompanied the photos with the following message: “Today is an absolutely spectacular aurora.” Then proceed to download some images that you can enjoy from the comfort of your chair: this is what the auroras look like from cold space.
The pictures were taken on August 17th. They appeared very recently, and are also a product of solar activity, which is currently very active. For this reason, the Earth’s magnetic field has already begun to adequately respond to the interaction of our star, thus creating spectacular colorful kites in the night sky.
“Grateful for the recent solar activity that has resulted in these wonderful views.Hines added on his Twitter.
The reason for these recent auroras
Solar activity is increasing more and more. Such is the present influence of the star that Northern Lights are expected even in the south of New England.in the USA.
The reason is that right now the Sun seems to be going through a pretty dynamic process, so it’s releasing coronal mass ejections. This activity triggers a response in the Earth’s magnetic field, which manifests itself in incredible colors in the sky. Nonetheless, This is nothing but the result of the collision of charged particles emanating from the Sun with the Earth’s magnetic field..
Although there are no warnings at this time, these solar flares could affect our communications on Earth. In fact, one of them was so strong that it caused the destruction of some Starlink satellites earlier this year. Therefore, no matter how amazed the inhabitants of the International Space Station were by this spectacle, well prepared for this kind of event.
Seems so far the current solar cycle will remain fairly active. Of course, the best thing we can do is enjoy it from the comfort of our home.
What else can you see in a photo taken by a NASA astronaut from space?
In addition to the spectacular auroras, the images also show a rather striking formation. These are lines that are parallel to each other., which appear on the left side of one of the photographs taken by the astronaut. What exactly?
Bob Hines explained that are a reflection of the station’s solar panels. A small detail, but quite fascinating when you manage to find it.
On the other hand, we don’t just see the colors of the northern lights from the outside. large bodies of water and Entire cities shine in all their splendor. Even from the location of the International Space Station, you can see some of the activity of the megacities in which we live.
Source: Hiper Textual
