The Southern Lights (aurora australis) is a phenomenon occurring only in the far Southern Hemisphere and is similar to the better-known Northern Lights (aurora borealis) which occur only in the far Northern Hemisphere.
Auroras are the result of disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by solar wind and cause wide strips of coloured light ranging from green to purple that are visible to the naked eye.
Russian engineer and cosmonaut Ivan Vagner recently shared a video to social media, showing the Southern Lights seen from the International Space Station (ISS). The video was taken as the ISS was passing over the Antarctic in Australia’s longitude.
In the video, unidentified objects can also be made out, leading many to speculate on what it could have been. ‘At 9-12 seconds, 5 objects appear flying alongside with the same distance. What do you think those are? Meteors, satellites or…?’ Vagner said in his Tweet.
‘The information was brought to the notice of Roscosmos management, the materials were sent to TsNIIMash and the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences for further analysis,’ he added.
Take a look at the mesmerising video:
Space guests, or how I filmed the new time-lapse.
The peak of aurora borealis when passing over the Antarctic in Australia’s longitude, meaning in between them. However, in the video, you will see something else, not only the aurora. pic.twitter.com/Hdiej7IbLU
— Ivan Vagner (@ivan_mks63) August 19, 2020
The Southern Lights can be viewed most likely in New Zealand, the very south of Australia including Tasmania, and Antarctica.
Image: Screenshot
