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ESA / NASA
A picture from the International Space Station, provided Saturday by Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers, shows southern lights between Antarctica and Australia.
Most of the fantastic auroral views we've been getting over the past month have been from the north side of the world — but the southern lights are getting their day in the sun as well, thanks largely to the International Space Station.
The northern lights are more widely seen primarily because the high northern latitudes are more populated than similar latitudes in the south: The southernmost cities in Australia and New Zealand are in the 40s, latitude-wise, while Argentina and Chile dip down into the mid-50s. In comparison, the prime aurora-viewing areas in the north are in the 60s and 70s.
The International Space Station flies as far as 51.6 north and south latitude on every orbit, and its astronauts have a far more commanding view of the polar regions than earthly skywatchers. So it's no surprise that they're regularly seeing the auroral glow during the current period of heightened solar activity. Right now, the station's crew is in the midst of a viewing campaign that's being coordinated with the Canadian Space Agency's AuroraMAX project. Some of the reddish glows reach all the way up to the space station's level, 240 miles above Earth.
"We can actually fly into the auroras," space station resident Don Pettit said recently. "It's like being shrunk down and put inside of a neon sign."
You've got lots of choices for browsing through auroral sights and other views from space. There's Kuipers' Flickr gallery, the NASA 2Explore Flickr site, NASA's Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth, the Expedition 30 gallery on NASA's Human Spaceflight website, and the Fragile Oasis Facebook page, where astronaut Ron Garan and his colleagues keep track of everything that's out there. To find out when you can see the space station from your locale, consult NASA's database for sighting opportunities.
NASA
This March 6 photo from the International Space Station highlights daybreak on the left side of the horizon, and the southern lights on the right side. The station was flying over the Indian Ocean at the time, or about 1,200 miles south of Australia. The view is toward the east. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft is connected to the Pirs docking compartment at center, and a Russian Progress cargo craft is docked at right.
The space station's astronauts aren't the only ones who are seeing the southern lights: Check out the pictures from New Zealand and Tasmania that are being posted to SpaceWeather.com. And stay tuned: Thanks to a series of solar outbursts over the weekend, heightened geomagnetic activity should continue through Tuesday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center. That means there could be still more neon lights in the sky. Check out NOAA's Ovation Auroral Forecast and the University's Aurora Forecast website to find out if you're in the potential aurora zone.
Update for 9:30 p.m. ET: Tonight's northern lights were not to be missed at Sweden's Abisko National Park. "Tonight was very special," photographer Chad Blakley of Lights Over Lapland wrote in an email. "We had incredible auroras and were able to watch them dance as Venus and Jupiter went down behind the mountains." Here's a must-see time-lapse video of the scene:
Update for 4:30 p.m. ET March 14: ... And looking back Down Under, here's a wonderful video clip from Ian Stewart in Tasmania, looking south over Bruny Island. "This aurora was short lived, and obscured for the most part by cloud," Stewart wrote. "The cloud cleared just as the sky started glowing an eerie soft red, and the aurora faded into the beams of the rising moon at the end." Still more solar particles are coming our way, so stay tuned for more great views from the north and south. Check SpaceWeather.com for the latest.
More auroral glories:
- Sky lights go wild, north and south
- Solar storm lights up northern skies
- Rocket flies into the northern lights
- Aurora extravaganza glows in space
- Planet looks back at the northern lights
- Auroras spark awe across the north
- Slideshow: The best of the northern lights
- Cosmic Log's auroral archive
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Leave a Comment:
Spectacular pictures!
Amazing pictures. It sure makes you feel small looking at earth from space.
Utterly and truely amazing.
Oh I would freak out totally if I was in one of those space ships overlooking the world!! Scary, but soooo ever beyond beautiful...Just think...God created all of that!!!! Wow! breathtaking!
If you give credit to "God" for such beautiful things, you must also give "Him" credit for all the things associated with it. How about all the added radiation the comes along with those particles that make the light show? How about the serious health risks the space station crew is experiencing because of it? Giving early cancer to people doesn't sound like a very loving "God".....not a sermon, just a thought.
Hey, RealityCheck,
Lighten up, friend. God doesn't hand out cancer like some kind of polluted candy. You're right that God made everything in the universe, including the radiation that comes from the ions falling through the atmosphere. You're absolutely right. At the same time, though, it is also true that a lot more radiation is able to penetrate our atmosphere because of the damage our actions have done to it, such as pollution, right? So, in a way, the increased radiation dosage being delivered to Earth is a result of our actions over time, not God's. As regards the exposure to the space station crew, you certainly have a point, but God didn't put them up there, did He? I am not saying it is right or wrong to use certain resources, or to explore the vastness of creation, but human beings were designed to exist within a certain set of parameters and there are, as you have rightly observed, risks associated with going beyond those boundaries. It seems like you were awfully quick to jump on the liberal, "ridicule God and all those who believe in Him" bandwagon, but for what purpose? No one in any of these posts has assaulted your right to believe or not believe, so why did you feel the need to react as you did? Not cool.
@unapologeticchristian, pollution has nothing to do with radiation reaching the Earth's surface. The Earth's magnetic field is what protects us from charged particles. Care to try again to explain how god isn't responsible for radiation from CMEs?
#3.3 Ditto....Lighten up
Sometimes guys, we just need to let the whole religion and polotics debate go for a while and truely appreciate something beautiful or get some perspective.
Let them blame God for this. Heck, let polytheists blame whatever god they want to give credit for this. Now is not the time for those debates. Now is the time to sit back, enjoy the view, appreciate the perspective, and, yes, even allow people to express their opinion of how beautiful this is unchallenged even if they attach religious significance to it. Right now it doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter.
No ManFromNantucket, it always matters. Gods have no place here, in an intelligent discussion about science.
realitycheck, I am guessing you are the one to collapse jesusislordofall. What did he/she say that deserved that? Also, what makes you think all the pretty colors are falling to earth causing cancer? Are the cancer risks that much higher at the top-o-the earth or bottom, as it may be than most anywhere else? Doubt you can blame it on that. The higher rates of cancer below the broken ozone is caused by daylight sun, not photons in a magnetic field. Like unapologetic said, step back and admire creation, where ever it came from for once.
The view in the first photo...looks like an aurora tsunami. Beautifully breathtaking!
That is so gorgeous! :D
Lord God is the creator of time and space. He placed us in a garden of spectacular beauty for our benefit. All he wants in return is a relationship of trust with us. Not too hard I think. He just wants to love His children.
Lol, I love how so many people, when totally amazed or baffled, use "God" to fill in any blanks there are in logic. Yes, the northern and southern lights are beautiful and breath taking....created by solar particles, yes...created by "God", sorry no.
@ realitycheckpls That is one of the reasons god was invented. To help the scared, shaking, ignorant, hairless apes explain away that which they couldn't understand. It gave them comfort to know the real reason why millions of amps of electricity makes the sky glow like a neon tube is because god thought it was pretty. It's too bad that god didn't tell them the laws of physics requires it to happen.
Oops, I thought I was logging onto a science story with some awesome photographs but instead I seem to have walked into a revival meeting. Sorry, I'll come back later.
Give me a break with the 'God smack' and get out of the cave for a bit
Positar, please take this moment to take a break from proselytizing, and just enjoy something beautiful. Now is not the time to sell people on religion. Just like now is not the time to debate the non-existence of one or more gods. Please, let's just enjoy this.
We are the universe experiencing itself.
To me this finally confirms my initial "Theory", that the "Northern & Southern Lights" phenomenon is not "simply a phenomenon" but is a systematic reflectionary illumination as a result of the Suns solar storms radiation in volumes which electrically charges and highlights the magnetic ions in the earths "Magnetic North & South polar fields".
"what's" the "thing" with "all the quotes"? is is "some" kind of "quote mark" tourette syndrome?
as spock would say,,," fascinating "...
My husband was TDY in Alaska one time and while walking through town ended up also walking through the northern lights. They came right down through the town. He said it was awesome. Once in a lifetime opportunity. That was 25 years ago and he's uber-healthy. No cancer. No illnesses. Nada. Just a great memory of a wondrous beautiful event that not many people experience. Enjoy.
Real pretty pics. The real purpose for them being taken is to study the effects of X5.3 Solar Flare hitting our planet. The sun is farting on us folks. Enjoy the show. Nasa can study how this all effects things on earth from the electric grid to the magnetic field around the planet.
It's more of a sneeze but I still LOLed.
It's amazing how these great photos can cause a war of words about God, cancer and everything in between. Humans can't even enjoy the simplest things without waging war on one another.
why can't we all just get along
choise seince or GOD and doin't force your opinion on any one. I'm going this sumer I think it will be to late
if that's not from starwars, it means the terrorists have won - does that line not work anymore?: that is kind of funny...
still waiting on the zombie apokolypse
LoL to all of you ,....This as everything else is how its supposed to be, Hell God put radiation in you when you were created, It takes a nucleus to make your life, and all these little atoms to bounce around your system to keep you living in a way. We as well as the universe are all made of the same materials, It's how you live as to weather you will get cancer or not, Not what the world is made of. Be real study science listen to your inner being It wont lie to you as it is you, I get a kick out of everyone blaming it on god. Your GOD is the same entity I call space an unknown phenominon that we all believe in. At least we can all see space, And guess what we look in the same direction to find it or him lol. As once said in the tv series Babylon 5 we are star stuff.
In my words: I believe that we come from the stars, Just a little bit of dust to make us what we are.
Wow!! these are truly the last days spoken of in the bible, so my fellow believers dont hurt your head over the thoughts and beliefs of others. They said the same things to Noah until it was to late. God give us all the freedom of choice....to believe or not. So, live your life as you wish but to think that we came from apes :)
Gods and what their holy books say have no place in this discussion. Please don't bring your religious drivel to a serious talk about science and the beauty of our planet.
Why did you have to go and be so rude sir/miss? We all have the privilege of writing our beliefs not just scientist, not just Christians, Buddhists, Satanist, or any xXxist I find this very beautiful yes the science behind it all is fascinating but the religion behind it is something no one truly will ever know until they pass on you may not know it, I may not know it, no one really knows it...It's it, it is beautiful it is fascinating it is life. (Not trying to be rude honestly but I am a christian-Buddhist-scientist thing-a-ma-jig and I will stand up for my beliefs no matter how odd and "stupid" they may seem, again sorry if I offended you.)
The universe has so much to offer we know so little and think we know so much. Lets all hope we can be around for a few thousand more years to find out! Just think a hundred years from now the religious nuts will still be saying the end is at hand and who knows they may be right and if so I only want one thing to ask God face to face WHY?
This truly is a beautiful site I wish I could see something so spectacular.. I wonder do any of you think we would actually one day be able to go into deep space? Like vacationing or literally moving to another planet? That would be simply splendid~! I know we've found planets and moons with similar atmosphere but are they actually habitable for someone?