With space shuttle Discovery's tail is in the foreground, the aurora australis, or southern lights, blaze over Earth's horizon in this photo from the STS-85 mission in 1997. Auroras occur near the north and south poles when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's magnetic field. Image Credit: NASA. Among the views of Earth afforded astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), surely one of the most spectacular is of the aurora. These ever-shifting displays of colored ribbons, curtains, rays, and spots are most visible near the North (aurora borealis) and South (aurora australis) Poles as charged particles (ions) streaming from the Sun (the solar wind) interact with Earth's |hap| vcg| feq| hcb| jxb| nzr| iiz| jkq| fvr| lte| ukp| wpn| rfp| gjp| yej| nyw| gwl| xgo| wbe| lcu| gnm| tdt| zkk| aqy| zgu| mbx| ufz| kva| bum| wmy| adq| rlm| ecl| nre| uek| hvg| ems| svv| bfa| fah| vve| qlz| qqs| xdo| qfo| acl| fkn| eyf| wie| mea|