The northern and southern light are beautiful electromagnetic phenomena . Electrically charge up particles from the Sun slam into the atmosphere , exciting the gas there , producing waving curtains of light . As the Sun is aroundthe peakof activity in its 11 - year - tenacious cycle , there is a pot more outer space atmospheric condition , with more active morning .

The astronauts onboard the International Space Station ( ISS ) had a large view of them a few week back . While traveling in the part of the Indian Ocean between Australia and Antarctica , the thought from the ISS was breathtaking . At 419 klick ( 260 miles ) above the sea , image show the streaks of the aurorae snaking about and wrap around the major planet .

The images come from NASA ’s image archiveGateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth . They were taken in speedy succession , showing both the subtle changes of the first light and the motility of the ISS , which moves through space at around 8 km ( 5 miles ) per second .

Similar to the main image but the aurora is breaking apart a bit and there is a hint of red on the horizon

Aurorae are active and everchanging.Image Credit: NASA Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth

The colors of the aurorae are specific to which corpuscle and molecule are hit by the solar particles and at what altitude . Often , the aurorae are unripened because that is the color emitted by oxygen , which is well-fixed enough to energize .

It is possible to haveother colors , as seen in the icon . For this to fall out , you take particles that are more gumptious . Solar storms help with that – in those case , green lights are accompanied by red one .

Red aurora are created in two fashion : the first , deeper red ink is from nitrogen atoms , which can also make touch of purple , dingy , and pink depending on the energy . If the Sun is really active – like it is now – then you’re able to also get red from O . Under certain term , you could even getorange aurorae , but that ’s due to a combination of the above rather than an real emission .

Once again similar to the above but the aurora are almost fading underneath with more breaks between the wisps

If I were an astronaut, I’d be spending my time in the cupola just looking down at EarthImage Credit: NASA Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth

If you ca n’t take a trip to the ISS , there are always the higher latitudes ( check the forecasthere ) or desire for another solar tempest like the one fromlast May .