Bright Solar Storm Aurora: Cosmonaut Kud-Sverchkov | International Space Station

Bright Solar Storm Aurora: Cosmonaut Kud-Sverchkov | International Space Station

Expedition 74 Station Commander and Cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov: "Yesterday's aurora borealis was so intense that, along with the usually barely visible green light, a red glow also appeared. Oxygen atoms glow green at altitudes of about 100 km, and red at 300-400 km. Higher, more rarefied layers of the atmosphere require more energy to excite the aurora, so red is usually rare. Yesterday, with the most powerful storm in two decades, there was plenty of red light. It felt like we were literally floating within this light. Although, of course, we only just covered a fraction of the latitudes where the auroral oval is located. The aurora was visible from the station even after we had already flown over the Middle East!"

Cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov captured these historic views of aurora over Earth from the International Space Station. These were recorded during one of the most powerful solar storms in over 20 years, according to the United States National Weather Service's Space Weather Prediction Center.

The last solar radiation storm of comparable severity was recorded in October 2003. Auroras are caused by solar storms emitting high-speed charged particles colliding with Earth's atmosphere, creating vibrant light displays.

Follow Expedition 74:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew

Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineer: Sergei Mikaev

NASA Flight Engineer: Chris Williams

Video Credit: Roscosmos/S. Kud Sverchkov
Duration: 20 seconds

Date: Jan. 20, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Planets #Earth #Aurora #GeomagneticStorms #SolarSystem #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #CosmonautVideography #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #MicrogravityResearch #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #JSC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video