From space, an astronaut notices a bright aurora storm
Description:
An impressive aurora caused by a solar storm was captured in space by NASA astronaut Bob Hines. After a mild solar outburst, the images were captured from the International Space Station.
With the captions "Absolutely SPECTACULAR aurora today!!!" and "Thankful for the current solar activity resulting in these amazing spectacles," Hines tweeted images of the storm hitting Earth"s atmosphere.
When the sun launches charged particles toward Earth, a moderate or G2-class storm is created, which is when the northern lights appear. Because the thrown particles are drawn to the magnetic field of the planet, this phenomenon is known as a coronal mass ejection.
On Earth, solar storms are often not harmful, but on rare occasions they can disrupt infrastructure, taking out power lines and satellites. Samantha Cristoforetti, an astronaut with the European Space Agency, also tweeted this week about seeing auroras from orbit.
