Skip to main content

Space station shares ‘eerie green aurora’ for Halloween

The International Space Station (ISS) has shared an “eerie green aurora” for tonight’s Halloween festivities, though admittedly it has more to do with solar storms than scary monsters.

Enjoy this eerie green aurora for #NASAHalloween! 🌌❇️ https://t.co/UjKPo63fCz

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) October 31, 2022

ISS astronauts are often treated to astonishing views of aurora during the facility’s orbit some 250 miles above Earth.

Recommended Videos

The phenomenon happens when particles from solar storms clash with gases in Earth’s atmosphere. The resulting displays of swirling light can also be seen from the ground, too, with far-north locations such as Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland being the best spots to catch them. Alternatively, you can also see them in places like Tasmania and New Zealand in the far south.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The one tweeted by the ISS on Monday was captured by NASA astronaut Don Pettit when he was part of the station’s Expedition 30, which took place 10 years ago

Compared to other auroras captured from the ISS in recent years, the one above is particularly intense, as the space station passes directly over it.

During his three space missions, American astronaut Pettit earned a reputation for capturing unique and beautiful imagery from the orbital outpost.

The astronaut still shares many of his images on his Twitter account, including this stunning picture taken from the station’s Cupola module that shows Earth as you’ve never seen it before.

Take this incredible video tweeted recently by Pettit, which shows an orbital sunrise from the space station.

Zodiacal Light at orbital sunrise. This reel shows a sunrise from @ISS where the interplanetary dust in our solar system is seen as the zodiacal cloud. pic.twitter.com/lbgLMmMaPF

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) October 16, 2022

And here’s one of his trademark long exposures:

One of my favorites! https://t.co/7WgiBdGQ9c

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) August 21, 2022

Pettit has also demonstrated a knack for innovation during his ISS voyages. During Expedition 6 in 2002-2003, for example, the astronaut used parts gathered from around the ISS to build what’s known as a barn door tracker, a device that enables sharper night shots of city lights far below by compensating for the station’s movement relative to the Earth’s surface.

Pettit’s Twitter profile reads: “I am an engineer by schooling, a scientist by profession, and an explorer by heart.” One look at his tweets, and you’ll agree that he’s an awesome space photographer, too.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
SpaceX’s recent Starship rocket launch captured in space station video
The sixth Starship mission captured from the ISS.

Views of Starship Flight 6 from International Space Station

NASA has shared a cool snippet of video captured from the International Space Station (ISS) that shows the recent SpaceX launch of the Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket.

Read more
Check out astronaut’s stunning ‘science and art’ photo from the ISS
Earth, space, and the ISS as seen from the space station.

“So full of techno-cool and art-cool,” American astronaut Don Pettit wrote in a social media post describing his latest image from the International Space Station (ISS).

The remarkable photo is filled with light from stars and cities, with the trails created by keeping the camera shutter open for an extended period. We can also see the airglow on Earth's horizon, sunlight glinting off the SpaceX’s distant Starlink satellites, several spacecraft docked at the ISS, and parts of the station itself, too.

Read more
Space station video shows ‘cosmic fireflies’ high above Earth
Starlink satellites described as 'cosmic fireflies.'

On his fourth trip to orbit, NASA astronaut Don Pettit has been sharing some wonderful imagery captured from the International Space Station (ISS) since his arrival there in September.

His latest effort shows distant stars, city lights on Earth some 250 miles below, and what he describes as “cosmic fireflies,” but which are actually Starlink internet satellites deployed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

Read more