See what it's like to fly through an aurora in orbit
It looks like something from a '90s screensaver, but it's footage of the International Space Station flying through the northern (or maybe southern?) lights.
- Finalist for the Nesta Tipping Point prize and a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have been capturing worldview-altering photos of Earth from space for years now, including some beautiful shots of those dancing lights we know as the aurora borealis (or aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere). Now, the European Space Agency has published a new view for the YouTube generation with the breathtaking time-lapse video below.
The vid shows the ISS cruising through the green lights of an aurora -- a phenomenon observed when charged electrons from the solar wind interact with Earth's atmosphere to spectacular effect -- then over some nighttime city lights and finally on into morning, Peter Pan style.
It's a delightful 30 seconds to help put your whole day into perspective. You are a tiny, tiny human being on a big rock in limitless space, which means either it's all meaningless, or there's just so much left to explore. More on that later. For now, enjoy the pretty colors... FROM SPACE!!