Expedition 46 flight engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency (ESA) shared a stunning image of a glowing aurora taken on 23 February from the International Space Station.
Peake wrote: “The @Space_Station just passed straight through a thick green fog of #aurora…eerie but very beautiful. #Principia.”
The dancing lights of the aurora provide spectacular views on the ground, but also capture the imagination of scientists who study incoming energy and particles from the sun.
Aurora are one effect of such energetic particles, which can speed out from the sun both in a steady stream called the solar wind and due to giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
Image Credit: ESA/NASA
Aurora seen from space
