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    ISS astronauts nab ‘stunning’ photo of aurora borealis — from within the phenomenon

    By Alex Mitchell,

    2 days ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2xAct7_0w6XF64P00

    It’s easy to space out with a view like that.

    NASA astronauts onboard the International Space Station Thursday got a show for the ages after a geomagnetic storm sent the vivid aurora borealis canvassing over much of the planet — including New York City .

    “Spectacular not only from Earth but from orbit as well,” American spaceman Don Pettit posted to X , saying that it caught both fellow astronaut Matthew Dominick and himself “off guard.”

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2GxQSU_0w6XF64P00
    On Thursday evening, astronauts onboard the ISS took a spectacular image of auroras over Earth (above). Don Pettit

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    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Mk5D5_0w6XF64P00
    The aurora was visible across New York City, including Queens. AP

    Pettit, who previously captured early images of a once-in-a-lifetime comet a few weeks ago, said the aurora was just “so-so” from their perspective initially.

    “We were out of energy at the end of a long day and reluctant to once again set up our cameras up for yet another ‘No Show,'” he added.

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    The sun goes burp and the atmosphere turns red. Spectacular not only from Earth but from orbit as well. This event caught both @dominickmatthew and I off guard. Aurora had been just so-so; we were out of energy at the end of a long day and reluctant to once again set up our… pic.twitter.com/gL6rjUiHJQ

    — Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) October 11, 2024

    But right before bed, the duo made the “mistake” of taking one final peek out the window.

    “Stunning was the word. It looked like [the ISS] had been shrunk to some miniature dimension and inserted into a neon sign,” the astronaut wrote, adding a dose of poetry to what they captured next.

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    “We were not flying above the aurora; we were flying in the aurora. And it was blood red. Caught off guard, we hastily set up our cameras, four of them, all snapping shutters as fast as they could, creating a syncopated rhythm that accented Nature’s artistic display presented before us.”

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4G73qk_0w6XF64P00
    New York City saw the northern lights on Thursday (above), but astronauts on board the ISS caught even more stunning views of it. Getty Images

    The spectacular views on Thursday — and then again on Friday night for some way up north — was brought on by a solar flare on the sun.

    The radioactive burst on Tuesday caused a “severe” coronal mass ejection , which sent electric waves hurdling toward Earth.

    Astronauts on board the ISS captured a similar mesmerizing view of the northern lights in 2022.

    For top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com.

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