When it comes to colorful displays, sightseers will be hard pressed to find a more stunning view in nature than the Southern Lights. NASA astronaut Bob Hines, however, has managed to capture the phenomenon as never seen before.
The southern cousin to the Aurora Borealis, the Southern Lights is an intermingling of the sun’s rays and atmospheric gases, creating a dazzling light show. Taking to Twitter, Hines decided to let the public know what the Southern Lights looks like from a birds-eye view in outer space.
As reported by Mashable, Hines, two other NASA astronauts, Kjell Lindgren, Jessica Watkins and European astronaut Samantha Christoforetti arrived at the International Space Station on April 27. SpaceX launched the Crew-4 mission from the Kennedy Space Center to transport the astronauts.
As the sun’s rays began to intermingle with the Earth’s southern pole, Hines snapped a photo from the ISS for all to see.
“Absolutely spectacular aurora today!” Hines said on social media. “Thankful for the recent solar activity resulting in these wonderful sights!”
Within the stunning photos, the Southern Lights can be seen highlighting the Earth’s atmosphere with a bright green hue.
According to NASA, the four SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts will enter the Dragon Freedom crew ship to undock from Harmony’s space-facing port for a parachute-assisted splashdown somewhere on the Florida coast sometime after Oct. 3. The crew will be replaced in the upcoming Crew-5 launch scheduled for Oct. 3.
Until then, Hines and his fellow astronauts are continuing to conduct their research.
“Space research benefitting humans living on and off the Earth is still ongoing aboard the orbital lab,” NASA said in a press release. “Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti were back inside the Kibo laboratory module today exploring how skin heals in microgravity. The quartet, using the Life Science Glovebox, is observing space-caused molecular processes that may inform advanced wound treatments and therapies for astronauts and Earthlings.”
