The Northern Lights are still as fascinating as ever, but these are very different from what we usually see. A new video shows a rare light show filmed from a unique perspective. The result is... breathtaking.
For several months, the northern lights have been at the heart of scientific and visual news. NASA recently launched rockets at the very heart of these luminous phenomena to better understand how they work. For their part, several solar storms have offered inhabitants of the northern hemisphere colorful nights, visible as far away as France. These events attract sky enthusiasts and researchers alike, because they are not only beautiful: they also reveal the Sun's activity and its influence on our planet. Today, it is a completely new perspective that is attracting attention. A video published on X shows the Northern Lights filmed not from the ground… but from space. These images were captured from a satellite, with a bird's eye view of the polar regions. The spectacle is striking: waves of green, purple, and blue light, in constant motion, literally surround our planet like a living halo. A vision rarely offered to the general public, and which reveals to how much this phenomenon exceeds what we observe from the surface.
Aurorae seen from space reveal their true magnitude
Unlike terrestrial images where auroras appear as undulating curtains in the sky, the space view allows us to perceive their true scale. We better understand the extent to which these phenomena cover immense areas, sometimes over several thousand kilometers. Their shapes precisely follow the lines of the Earth's magnetic field, creating an immense auroral oval. This type of capture requires no filters or special effects: everything is filmed in real time, directly from low orbit.
This type of observation is also very useful for scientists. It allows them to analyze live the effect of solar particles on the upper atmosphere, and to observe how auroras interact with winds, electric fields, and layers of the ionosphere. As we approach the peak of solar activity expected in 2025, this type of video could become more common. But for the general public, it is above all a rare moment of contemplation, and proof that the beauty of our planet is revealed even more intensely when seen from above.
Insane new footage shows the ISS orbiting over auroras pic.twitter.com/yIRXJb44LZ
— Curiosity (@MAstronomers) April 9, 2025
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