Astronaut Thomas Pesquet Captures Aurora From ISS

First Posted: Feb 09, 2017 03:57 AM EST
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Expedition 50 and Expedition 51 flight engineer Thomas Pesquet witnessed the stunning aurora from the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time after staying in space for two months.

Space.com reported that French astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency captured the bright green and red aurora lights from the ISS on Jan. 18. Pesquet posted his snap on his Flickr account, displaying the space station's solar panels on the foreground.

"After two months in space, I saw my first aurora," he wrote. "Magical green lights in the distance. Hard picture to take but I'll get better: there's always something to look forward to on the International Space Station."

The ESA astronaut added a little bit of information about the spectacle: "Aurora occur when strong radiation from the Sun hits our atmosphere and light up, it is literally a visual representation of the Earth's magnetic field protecting all living beings from space radiation."

Thomas Pesquet was launched to the ISS in November 2016. He will return to Earth in May 2017.

In April 2016, NASA released an ultra-high definition video of the aurora from the International Space Station. The 4-minute and 36-second film displays the dancing green, purple, blue and red lights on the Earth's upper atmosphere from an incredible perspective.

According to Exploratorium, the different colors of aurora light called "spectrum" are produced by the collision of electrically charged particles from the Sun with different ions and atoms at different heights in the Earth's atmosphere.

The rare red aurora occurs at higher levels of the ionosphere where charged particles collide with oxygen at above 300 km. The common yellow and green lights are products of collisions with oxygen at lower altitudes, particularly between 100 km and 300 km.

Meanwhile, the blue and purple hues are products of collisions with gases like hydrogen and helium at below 120 km.

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