ISS Space Station – Spectacular Earth Aurora Borealis / Australis Timelapse

Breathtaking time lapse sequences of photographs shot from the International Space Station.

It's amazing how well the cameras pick up the light of the cities below. The world looks like a living organism. Almost surreal: the northern lights.

In northern latitudes, this spectacular and colorful light effect is known as the 'aurora borealis' named by Pierre Gassendi in 1621 after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas.

The southern lights are called 'aurora australis'.

ISS Space Station Planet Earth Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis
Shooting locations in order of appearance:

1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night
2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night
3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia
4. Aurora Australis south of Australia
5. Northwest coast of United States to Central South America at Night
6. Aurora Australis from the Southern to the Northern Pacific Ocean
7. Halfway around the World
8. Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East
9. Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East

Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis ISS Space Station Planet Earth

"Aurora now, fair daughter of the dawn,
Sprinkled with rosy light the dewy lawn."

 

(Alexander Pope, English poet; 1688-1744)

10. Pass over Canada and Central United States at Night
11. Pass over Southern California to Hudson Bay
12. Islands in the Philippine Sea at Night
13. Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam
14. Views of the Mideast at Night
15. Night Pass over Mediterranean Sea
16. Aurora Borealis and the United States at Night
17. Aurora Australis over Indian Ocean
18. Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia at Night

Music: Jan Jelinek
Editing by Michael König