The Northern Lights Are Even More Incredible From Space
People flock from all corners of the globe just to catch a glimpse the Northern Lights. There are many great places that boast impeccable views — Iceland, Canada and parts of the USA, for example — but none so good as the International Space Station.
Paolo Nespoli, an astronaut from the European Space Agency captured the incredible display from space, hundreds of kilometres above the earth’s surface.
[media_embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzBp6Bt503o[/media_embed]The breathtaking footage was sent back to the Agency, where it was edited together to showcase the dreamy kaleidoscope of greens, blues and purples as they danced across Canada.
While it may look like a supernatural event, the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, actually occurs when charged particles from the sun strike atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere, they cause electrons in the atoms to move to a higher-energy state.
When the electrons drop back to a lower energy state, they release a photon, or light – creating the stellar spectacle.
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(Lead Image: ESA / YouTube)
