Ever surprise what the northern lights appear to be from house? Because of NASA astronaut Don Pettit, you possibly can see for your self.

Pettit captured this time-lapse of the aurora from the Worldwide Area Station (ISS), the place he is been stationed since September. The veteran astronaut — he is at the moment on his fourth spaceflight — is thought for his unbelievable astrophotography. He is even invented his personal star tracker system for long-exposure pictures and introduced that to house with him.

Within the video, a brilliant inexperienced band of aurora may be seen «dancing» over Jap Canada on January 5. The inexperienced emissions of the northern lights may be discovered round 75 miles above the Earth, according to his Reddit post, whereas the Worldwide Area Station orbits at an altitude of roughly 250 miles.

And a bonus, Pettit typically posts on reddit the place he offers in-depth particulars on his photographs and movies.

Different hues are discovered at varied altitudes; pink, as an illustration, may be discovered between roughly 186 and 373 miles above the Earth, which implies the ISS can transfer proper by means of it. «For giant aurora shows, It’s like we’ve been shrunk to some miniature dimension and inserted right into a neon signal,» wrote.

Need to see the northern lights your self? You are in luck. According to NASA, the solar reached photo voltaic most, or a interval of intense photo voltaic exercise that may trigger extra frequent and extra vibrant aurora, in October. The interval of photo voltaic most can final the entire 12 months, although it is attainable to see the northern lights even in photo voltaic minimal.

Robust photo voltaic storms can carry the northern lights down into america, however you are higher off heading north for a larger likelihood to see them. A number of the best places in the world to see the northern lights embody Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.