Thai 'Aurora' and Earth Airglow: Orbital View | International Space Station
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Expedition 72 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Don Pettit: "Known as Thai Aurora, fishing boats off the coast of Thailand use green lights to lure their catch. Striking view from orbit!"
You will also notice orange, green and yellow airglow in this image. Airglow occurs when atoms and molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light to shed their excess energy. Or, it can happen when atoms and molecules that have been ionized by sunlight collide with and capture a free electron. In both cases, they eject a particle of light—called a photon—in order to relax again. The phenomenon is similar to auroras, but where auroras are driven by high-energy particles originating from the solar wind, airglow is energized by ordinary, day-to-day solar radiation.
Unlike episodic and fleeting auroras, airglow shines constantly throughout Earth’s atmosphere, and the result is a tenuous bubble of light that closely encases our entire planet. (Auroras, on the other hand, are usually constrained to Earth’s poles.) Just a tenth as bright as all the stars in the night sky, airglow is far more subdued than auroras, too dim to observe easily except in orbit or on the ground with clear, dark skies and a sensitive camera.
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov
NASA Flight Engineers: Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.
Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/D. Pettit
Release Date: March 4, 2025
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