Coronal Mass Ejection Hits Earth: Auroras Last Night | International Space Station

Coronal Mass Ejection Hits Earth: Auroras Last Night | International Space Station

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about aurora: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Two main types of explosions occur on the sun—solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Unlike the energy and x-rays produced in a solar flare that can reach Earth at the speed of light in eight minutes, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are giant clouds of solar material that take one to three days to reach Earth. Once at Earth, these ejections, can impact satellites in space or interfere with radio communications. 

Follow Expedition 75:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Pyotr Dubrov 
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Anna Kikina, Sergey Teteryatnikov

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Flight Engineer: Joshua Kutryk

NASA Flight Engineers: Anil Menon, Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney 

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Credits: NASA's Johnson Space Center, A. Menon

Date: Oct. 10, 2026

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