PHOTO: Green aurora dances behind Russian spacecraft docked at ISS

Auroras are a mesmerising event for Earthlings, and they become even more special when you can see them from space. A splendid scene of green auroras was captured by an astronaut from the International Space Station (ISS). NASA Astronaut Matthew Dominick, who is at the ISS, recently clicked the green auroras. What made the entire thing even more special was that they were moving right behind a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

"Recent solar activity pushed the aurora closer to us. The Soyuz hangs from the station in a stream of aurora," NASA's Dominick wrote on X.

"Soyuz is illuminated in a light blue from a sun behind the camera and in front of the space station that is just about to rise," added Dominick.

He also guided fellow photographers about the camera settings he used - 1/4s, f1.4, 50mm, ISO 6400.

People on the internet praised his photography skills, with one of them writing, "Wow, you really nailed it with that shallow depth of field and long shutter. Amazing capture."

Recent solar activity pushed the aurora closer to us. The Soyuz hangs from the station in a stream of aurora.

Soyuz is illuminated in a light blue from a sun behind the camera and in front of the space station that is just about to rise.

1/4s, f1.4, 50mm, ISO 6400 pic.twitter.com/fjQcI5nVy5 — Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) August 2, 2024

Talking to people about the shot, Dominick mentioned how the Sun was behind the camera at the time. But he ensured that the sun's rays did not wash out the auroras. The photo was taken in such a way "so that a little bit of light illuminates the Soyuz but does not wash out the aurora."

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Auroras on Earth are caused when charged particles from the sun slam into our planet's atmosphere. These are then excited to higher energy levels and create the light that we see. Auroras are of different colours depending on the molecules. A green glow happens from excited oxygen.

Astronaut Matthew Dominick

Dominick came to the ISS in March this year as an Expedition 71 astronaut with SpaceX's Crew-8 mission. Since then, he has shared several pictures clicked from the space station, including some beautiful time lapses. He has shared pictures of auroras as seen from space a few times as well. Other imagery shared includes Boeing's Starliner capsule docked at the complex, the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and meteors.

During an event hosted by NASA on X Spaces, Dominick revealed that he has taken as many as 200,000 photos aboard the ISS till now. "It's just an incredible view out the window," said Dominick. "And I realize that so many people are fascinated by the pictures that we get to take up here."