ISS Astronaut Captures Gorgeous Green Aurora From Space

International Space Station (ISS) astronaut Matthew Dominick recently captured a stunning photo of the Russia Soyuz spacecraft in front of a vibrant green aurora.

Dominick’s shot, which he posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on August 2nd, features a dazzling green aurora dancing behind the Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked to the ISS.

“Recent solar activity pushed the aurora closer to us. The Soyuz hangs from the station in a stream of the aurora. Soyuz is illuminated in a light blue from the sun behind the camera, and in front of the space station that is just about to rise,” the astronaut writes on X.

Dominick also listed his camera settings: 1/4s, f/1.4, 50mm, ISO 6400. He didn’t mention what camera he used for this shot, but in a recent live X Spaces (formerly Twitter Spaces) event, Dominick said he has Nikon Z9 and a Nikon D5 cameras aboard the station.

In the same chat, Dominick discussed some of the quirks of shooting in zero-gravity, including the ability to quickly get into otherwise difficult positions. “The thing about zero-G,” he says, “you can quickly throw yourself into funny positions…”

Part of that quick-thinking photographer mindset also includes being prepared. Dominick told listeners that he has cameras rigged up throughout the station at all times.

In a behind-the-scenes video he shared to X on July 23rd, Dominick walks viewers through his process for capturing these stellar photographs. He has multiple lights and flex arms rigged throughout the various capsules and modules of the ISS. And in the true spirit of do-it-yourself photography, he is seen using a white washcloth taped over a light for diffusion.

“You can imagine when it’s super dark outside, even the littlest amount of light coming from in here would overexpose the [subject] against a deep star background,” Dominick explained.

The astronaut has shared numerous spectacular images from his time aboard the space station in recent weeks. On August 7th, he shared this photograph of a rare, colorful lightning sprite shooting up miles from Earth.

Follow Dominick on X at @dominickmatthew to see more photos and videos from ISS.

Image credits: Featured Image by Matthew Dominick/NASA