NASA has released a video shot in space of the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis phenomena and it is, quite frankly, phenomenal.
The five-minute clip, produced for NASA TV by Harmonic and released on Apr 17, uses time lapses shot from the International Space Station and shows the dancing lights, which occur when electrically charged electrons and protons in the Earth’s magnetic field collide with neutral atoms in the upper atmosphere, in gorgeous Ultra-High Definition.
Named after Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, the lights are usually seen in high latitude regions.
The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, is seen in northern latitudes while the Aurora Australis, known as the Southern Lights, can be seen in high southern latitude areas in Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.