Jan 07, 2025 09:38 PM IST
Auroras are beautiful lights seen near the North and South Poles. If you are near the North Pole, the lights are called aurora borealis or Northern Lights.
NASA astronaut Donald Petit has shared a video of the intense green aurora from the space. The nine-second long video shared by him aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on social media platform X shows an intense green glow of the auroras.
Pettit, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, arrived at the ISS in September last year.
What are auroras?
Auroras are beautiful lights seen near the North and South Poles. If you are near the North Pole, the lights are called aurora borealis or Northern Lights.
If you are near the South Pole, it is called an aurora australis or the southern lights. These lights are only visible in the night.
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According to National Geographic, the most active auroras occur when the solar wind is the strongest. While the solar wind is constant, the solar weather can change daily. Solar winds are the ions continuously streaming from the sun’s surface.
Who is Donald Pettit?
Donald Pettit was selected by the NASA in 1996. He holds a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the Oregon State University and a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona.
According to NASA, he worked as a staff scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
He was also a member of the Synthesis Group, a presidential commission lead by Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Tom Stafford tasked with assembling the technology to return to the Moon, the NASA website added.
Pettit served as NASA Science Officer for Expedition 6 in 2003, operated the robotic arm for STS-126 in 2008 and served as a Flight Engineer for Expedition 30/31 in 2012, where he lived aboard the International Space Station for more than one year.
Pettit is currently serving as a flight engineer and member of the Expedition 72 crew aboard the orbiting laboratory, where he will spend approximately 6 months conducting science experiments and maintaining the space station.
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