Russian cosmonaut captures stunning aurora over Earth

Cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov captured breathtaking images of auroral lights on Earth from the International Space Station. The lights were captured during one of the strongest solar storms in more than 20 years, according to the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

The last solar radiation storm of similar intensity was recorded in October 2003. Auroras occur when solar storms that emit high-speed charged particles collide with Earth’s atmosphere and create vivid light shows.