Astronaut shares spectacular aurora view from SpaceX capsule 250 miles above Earth

An astronaut shared the impressive sight of aurora from a window 250 miles above Earth.

NASA's Matthew Dominick is bedding down in a small capsule spaceship docked at the International Space Station while he waits to return to Earth. On Monday Dominick shared breathtaking images and a timelapse of red and green auroras outside the window of SpaceX's Endeavour Crew Dragon spacecraft .

"Peering out a Dragon Endeavor window that frames red and green aurora streaming by Dragon Freedom docked to the front of the International Space Station," he tweeted. "This is the view out the window this evening . . . I miss my family and friends but we would have missed today’s insane aurora if we had undocked today."

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"I watched the aurora with (astronaut Don Pettit) today from the cupola and on a later pass I watched it from Endeavor with (astronaut Nick Hague)," he added. Hours later he shared an 11 second timelapse of the stunning aurora, which appeared otherworldy from space.

"Red and green aurora appear to dance in a timelapse as we flyby looking out Dragon Endeavour’s window with Dragon Freedom in view," he posted. "We shot a couple thousand images yesterday trying to get the settings, lighting, and framing just right across multiple orbital nights because the aurora was amazing due to recent solar activity."

Dominick traveled to the space station in March as part of SpaceX's Crew-8 mission. His return journey was initially scheduled for October 13, but was postponed due to Hurricane Milton. The NASA spaceman has taken advantage of his incredible view and also shared incredible footage of Hurricane Milton from space on Tuesday.

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NASA studies hurricanes from space using images like this one and satellite observations. This perspective helps scientists understand the impact of climate change on hurricanes and how communities can better prepare for tropical cyclones in a warming world.

Dominick's Milton photos come as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. government's scientific weather forecasting authority, released satellite images that reveal the massive scale of Hurricane Milton . In anticipation of the hurricane , a state of emergency has been declared in Florida , and residents have been ordered to evacuate, resulting in one of the largest evacuation procedures in Florida's history.

Hurricane Milton is an incredibly powerful tropical cyclone currently affecting the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico.