In a new astronaut image from space, the glow of the moon meets a multi-colored aurora.
International Space Station (ISS) and NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, a senior photographer on Expedition 71, photographed the Moon and the auroras from his location 400 kilometers above Earth.
“The auroras have been incredible the last few days. Great timing to try out a new lens that recently arrived on Cygnus,” Dominick said in one of the posts on X, formerly Twitter. (Cygnus is a Northrop Grumman cargo spacecraft that arrived on August 6.)
Related: Astronaut captures beautiful green aurora glowing behind a Russian spacecraft docked to the ISS (photo)
Dominick and the Expedition 71 crew have been observing strong auroras over the past few days, which are caused when charged particles from the sun interact with gas molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere. The gas molecules emit light when they are excited to higher energy levels than normal, with different molecules producing different colors of light. (Green is caused by oxygen, for example.)
Both green and red hues are visible in Dominick’s recent images and videos. “The moon moves toward the horizon and sets between red and green auroras,” Dominick wrote in another X post. “I was so lucky to be able to capture this shot.”
Timelapse of the moon setting in streams of red and green auroras, followed by a sunrise that bathes Soyuz in bright blue. The auroras have been incredible over the last few days. Great timing to try out a new lens that recently arrived on Cygnus. 15mm, T1.8, 1/3 s exposure, … pic.twitter.com/otFv5pZ6vd12 August 2024
The red-green auroras, colored by moonlight, are Dominick’s latest photos from the SpaceX Crew-8 mission. His visit happened to coincide with a peak in auroral activity, allowing him to capture images of auroral shows against the backdrop of spacecraft such as Boeing’s Starliner, SpaceX Crew Dragon, and Russia’s Soyuz.
Dominick recently said he took up to 200,000 photos during his six-month mission aboard the ISS. Many of these photos were taken in his spare time, although like all astronauts, he also takes photos for Earth observation and ISS maintenance.
