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Dazzling Auroras Dance on the Southern Horizon in Astronaut's Photo
By Sarah Puschmann, Staff Writer | July 11, 2017 03:22pm ET
The southern lights appear to dance on the horizon off the southern coast of Australia in a stunning new photo taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.
The eye-catching image was taken on June 19, according to NASA's Earth Observatory, and the shot captures a gorgeous cosmic interplay: a curved sliver of blue dawn light and the more diffuse green glow of the southern lights (also called the aurora australis), sliced through by one of the space station's solar-panel-covered wings.
As is the case for its northerly counterpart, the aurora borealis (or northern lights), the otherworldly glow of the aurora australis is caused by collisions of particles high up in the atmosphere. Though most of these particles, which have been blasted off from the sun, are deflected by Earth's magnetic field, some enter the South Pole. Once there, the particles smash into atmospheric gas, injecting the latter with a burst of extra energy. Then, the gas releases this extra energy in the form of light. [Aurora Photos: See Breathtaking Views of the Northern Lights]
More:
https://www.livescience.com/59761-auroras-on-southern-horizon-astronaut-photo.html?utm_source=notification
