'Airglow' captured from ISS mesmerises with its reddish hue

Space is indeed filled with wonderful things but sometimes, pure beauty is closer to home than we think. And we have International Space Station (ISS), a brilliant vantage point from which we can take in and capture various earthly phenomenon.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has posted an image of 'airglow'. The dreamy word may represent a phenomenon that has a firm basis in science. It does not take away the beauty of the phenomenon.

The airglow has been captured before on camera. But the photo posted by NASA this time shows a brilliant red hue that makes this one stand out.

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The International Space Station (ISS) was over the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 258 miles (415 kilometres). It was over northeast of Papua New Guinea, said NASA.

What is an airglow?

It is a specific phenomenon that occurs when molecules of sodium, oxygen, nitrogen and ozone get excited due to energy imparted by ultraviolet radiation of the sunlight. As the molecules collide with each other they emit light.

The airglow can be best captured at night. The astronaut aboard the ISS hence captured the image at a high exposure, so that more light entered the camera lens.

The ISS was travelling at a speed of 5 miles (8 kilometres) per second.

This high speed creates a unique situation for the space station. It completes one revolution of Earth in 90 minutes. This means that the ISS revolves around the Earth 16 times in a single day. This, in turn, means that astronauts aboard the ISS experience sunlight for 45 minutes and darkness for next 45 minutes. And the cycle repeats sixteen times each 'day'!

"Since the space station became operational in November 2000, crew members have produced hundreds of thousands of images of the land, oceans, and atmosphere of Earth, and even of the Moon through Crew Earth Observations. Their photographs of Earth record how the planet changes over time due to human activity and natural events," says NASA.

(With inputs from agencies)