Astronaut Scott Kelly delivered a rare gift to his Twitter followers — a timelapse video of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, from the International Space Station. As the Telegraph explained, it looks as if the Aurora is an eerie river, up until the sun bursts over the horizon.
Kelly is on day 141 of his year-long stint on the ISS. To share some of the excitement on board, he’s regularly taken to Twitter, including these posts from August 15.
#Aurora trailing a colorful veil over Earth this morning. Good morning from @space_station ! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/q7C7R5D6fu
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) August 15, 2015
Another pass through #Aurora . The sun is very active today, apparently. #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/1uDtRzrGuY — Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) August 15, 2015
Day 141. The chapter of a day ends as it began. #Aurora on a sunrise. Good night from @space_station ! #YearInSpace https://t.co/hZBMs9q0CS
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) August 15, 2015
The final post shows the incredible video of the Northern Lights. According to the Verge , the ISS is travelling at about 17,000 mph relative to the surface, allowing him to capture the setting of the Aurora hitting the blinding white light from the sun on the horizon.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , there have been quite a few impressive images of the Northern Lights from the Earth as well. Early last year, a solar storm extended the range of the amazing light show farther south than normal allowing for more of people to grab their cameras and take their own snapshots.
Naturally, very few of those pictures compare to the breadth of Scott Kelly’s Northern Lights time-lapse video, which will likely be accompanied by plenty more images from his record-breaking year in space.
[Image Credit: Getty Images]