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In a mesmerising video shot by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick from the International Space Station, a fleeting meteor, stars and auroras were seen sparkling in space.

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Commander of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission Dominick posted a new timelapse of pictures clicked of Earth just before sunrise. 

In the beautiful nighttime video, auroras were seen winding through the atmosphere of Earth, along with passing satellites, glittering stars and a meteor streak. 

The astronaut recorded the timelapse video from inside the Cupola module of the orbiting lab and the robotic Canadarm2 was visible in the foreground of the video. 

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The new time-lapse video was captured by Dominick in a post on X on July 21. 

"If you watch carefully, part way through you can see a meteor streak towards Earth," wrote Dominick, in the post.

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Also Read: Mesmerising auroras can threaten planet Earth, harm critical infrastructure: Scientists

The most breathtaking capture of the timelapse video was the green and purple auroras which had lit up the night sky. 

A year of auroras

Auroras, which are commonly called as northern lights or southern lights, are created by the collision of the Sun's charged particles, which is called the solar wind, with the atoms of oxygen and nitrogen which are present in the atmosphere of the Earth that create the glowing light.

There have been intense auroras sighted this year because of solar maximum which happens when the sun reaches peak solar activity in its 11-year cycle. 

Watch: US to upgrade sensors, communications & space technologies in Arctic

Because of this, many solar particles have been bombarding the Earth which have produced many auroras in the night sky.

The space station was launched by Dominick on March 3, 2024, and he has been working as a flight engineer aboard the orbiting lab for the six-month mission. 

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Along with his assigned tasks, which include maintaining the space station and carrying out science experiments, Dominick has been taking pictures from the vantage point of space. 

He had shared another post in which he explained how a unique shot was taken by him and his crewmates from the Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, in which Crew-8 astronauts to the space station were on board. 

The picture shared by Dominick on X was shot in a way that the moonlight was illuminating the Dragon, as stars and part of the Milky Way were captured in the background. 

(With inputs from agencies)