Just a week after mysterious lights illuminated the skies of Bengaluru, NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick shared a breathtaking video of red and green auroras dancing over Chicago, filmed from space on October 8.
While aboard the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, Dominick captured the mesmerizing light display in a time-lapse video. Sharing the footage on social media platform X, he wrote, “Red and green aurora appear to dance in a timelapse as we flyby looking out Dragon Endeavour’s window with Dragon Freedom in view.”
The video, which quickly went viral, has garnered over 200,000 views as social media users marveled at the stunning display.
Dominick filmed the aurora while the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft was docked in front of the International Space Station (ISS). The astronaut shared his experience, explaining that he had temporarily moved to the Dragon Endeavour to make room for Crew-9’s arrival on the ISS.
In a follow-up post, he wrote, “We take most of our images from the cupola, but sleeping here has been amazing. This is the view out the window this evening. I miss my family and friends but we would have missed today’s insane aurora if we had undocked today.”
The auroras, typically challenging to spot over urban areas due to light pollution, were a result of a recent solar flare. Dominick mentioned that the crew worked hard to capture the stunning display over several orbital nights, taking thousands of images to perfect the settings and framing.
“We shot a couple thousand images yesterday trying to get the settings, lighting, and framing just right across multiple orbital nights because the aurora was amazing due to recent solar activity,” Dominick explained.
Red and green aurora appear to dance in a timelapse as we flyby looking out Dragon Endeavour’s window with Dragon Freedom in view.
We shot a couple thousand images yesterday trying to get the settings, lighting, and framing just right across multiple orbital nights because the… pic.twitter.com/Y3IhlqTNrO
— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) October 8, 2024
The captivating visuals shared by Dominick left social media users in awe. Comments poured in, with one user writing, “How does anything you see back home top this? Majestic.” Another user added, “What an incredible shot. It’s crazy to think about humanity from above looking at the same thing from below… mindblowingly cool!”
A third person commented, “That must have been breathtaking to witness.”
Dominick’s footage from space not only highlights the beauty of auroras but also offers a rare perspective, captivating viewers with the magic of the cosmos.
