NASA has shared a spectacular time-lapse video shot from the International Space Station (ISS) 268 miles above Earth.
NASA shared the 64-second video on Twitter on Monday, showing the scenery from the orbital outpost as it passes over the Indian Ocean before traveling onward to the moonlit Coral Sea east of Australia. Toward the end of the video, the footage shows the beautiful sight of moonlight shimmering off the ocean several hundred miles below before several lightning storms spatter the nightscape.
The spectacular footage – linked below – features a stunning aurora that makes our planet look like a whole other world.
This time-lapse video shows an orbital pass above an aurora-draped Indian Ocean all the way to a moonlit Coral Sea east of Australia. pic.twitter.com/U5pGdtdRvD
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) September 5, 2022
At the 25-second mark, a bright moon image rises above Earth. And at 30-seconds, the aurora floats out of the picture as the station travels over southern Australia. Users also noticed the Orion constellation rising.
Aurora is a natural phenomenon that happens when particles from solar storms hit gases in Earth’s atmosphere, with pretty displays emerging from the collision between the two. Many astronauts dream of witnessing an aurora which is often one of the highlights of their stay.
During their breaks, astronauts aboard the ISS often make a beeline for the seven-window Cupola module, which proffers unrivaled views of Earth and beyond.
