NASA seems to be campaigning to have the best gallery of space photos on Instagram. The American space agency has been recently sharing images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, such as the far galaxies, nebulas, and even a high-resolution image of Jupiter. Now, they are sharing the stunning image of the Southern Lights.
NASA's breathtaking image of the Southern Lights or aurora australis is impressing internet users. It was taken aboard the International Space Station while traveling 270 miles (434 kilometers) in orbit above the Indian Ocean near Antarctica.
Behold the Beauty of Aurora Australis
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has an unparalleled view of Earth from the space station. She tweeted on Sunday, August 21, how she observed the shimmering Southern Lights ripping through Earth's atmosphere.
Cristoforetti is with the European Space Agency and is currently assigned to the orbiting lab as part of the Minerva mission. She was launched on April 27 as a member of Crew-4 and had since become a sensation after posting the first-ever TikTok video from the ISS in May. She is set to return to Earth next month after more than four months in space.
The brilliant streams of green and red lights of aurora australis are like those seen in the northern hemisphere, known as aurora borealis or Northern Lights.
Auroras are formed when high-energy particles from the Sun rain down on Earth and interact with the magnetic fields in the north and south poles of the planet. These colorful lights in the sky are a delightful dance that must not be missed if given a chance, whether on Earth or in space.
According to Space.com, the photo recently taken from the ISS looks like out of a big-budget Hollywood science fiction spectacle with its striking silhouette and the green-tinted particles lured toward the magnetic pole as the background. The green and purple lights are caused by the clashes of solar particles and nitrogen, whereas the red light is due to oxygen.
Astronaut Bob Hines aboard the ISS, took the photo shared by NASA on Instagram. He also shared more images on Twitter last week, noting how spectacular the light show was.
Northern Lights VS Southern Lights
Northern and Southern Lights are types of auroras with the main difference in location. Northern Lights occur in the north pole, whereas Southern Lights happen in the south pole. However, according to Tour Radar, Southern Lights are not as popular because of their extremely remote location and are harder for travelers to journey to witness in real life.
When viewing either of the two auroras, experts always remind people to prepare for the cold winter. The best places to see Northern Lights will be Grotta Lighthouse in Iceland, Tromso in Norway, Churchill in Canada, Aurora Sky Station in Sweden, and Nuuk in Greenland.
Meanwhile, the best places to see Southern Lights will be at Eaglehawk Neck in Australia, the remote island South Georgia Island Cradle Mountain in Australia, Stewart Island in New Zealand, and Ushuaia in Argentina.
Taking a photo of each aurora takes a lot of patience, and chasing their occurrence is always a risk because they are never guaranteed to appear. Technically, they are visible any time of the year, but the winter usually increases the chance of seeing them. For Northern Lights, it is best to watch from August to late February, while for Southern Lights, March to September is ideal.
RELATED ARTICLE : Astronaut Captures Stunning Images of the Southern Lights; An Unusual Appearance Under the Full Moon
Check out more news and information on Space on Science Times.
