Solar Storm Turbocharges Aurora Lights in Dazzling Photos From Space and Earth

Matt Growcoot

A Russian cosmonaut has captured dazzling aurora lights from onboard the International Space Station — as a large coronal mass ejection (CME) supercharged auroras around the globe this week.

Sergey Kud-Sverchkov captured the above footage showing a wall of red and green light towering over the Earth’s surface, ebbing and flowing like a great sea.

It’s not clear exactly where the ISS was over Earth when Kud-Sverchkov filmed the footage, but a network of city lights permeates the ground some 250 miles below.

A CME is a massive burst of solar material and magnetic field from the Sun’s outer atmosphere. A powerful one occurred on Sunday, which made its way to Earth by Monday evening.

On the ground, photographers across the globe were out in force, capturing spectacular shots. Here’s a roundup of the some of the best.

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Space.com reports that the CME was a severe G4 geomagnetic storm, which turbo-charged the aurora lights.

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