See a Stunning View of the Southern Lights Dancing Across the Earth Captured by a NASA Astronaut

Jessica Meir, commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission, shared photos and videos of a green aurora she shot while sheltering in a capsule outside the International Space Station

Sara Hashemi | Daily Correspondent

June 16, 2026 12:04 p.m.

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A trail of glowing green lights dances in a wavy pattern as it stretches across the Earth, putting on a spectacular show for those fortunate enough to have a view from above. One of those lucky few was NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, who witnessed the stunning southern lights on June 5 while temporarily hunkered down in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft outside the International Space Station (ISS).

“As opposed to the previous aurora[s] I’ve seen, this one danced and snaked its way directly below us, putting on quite a show,” Meir wrote on social media two days later, when she shared a timelapse video of the spectacle. “I am in awe of this ethereal and emotionally evocative phenomenon.”

A timelapse view from our @SpaceX Dragon of the spectacular southern aurora seen in yesterday’s post, a result of a recent solar event. As opposed to the previous aurora I’ve seen, this one danced and snaked its way directly below us, putting on quite a show. I am in awe of this… pic.twitter.com/ReztjH3x9H

— Jessica Meir (@Astro_Jessica) June 7, 2026

The southern lights, also called aurora australis, are the Southern Hemisphere counterpart to the northern lights, or aurora borealis. They happen when the sun sends large amounts of charged particles toward Earth during events like solar flares and coronal mass ejections. (The sun always emits these particles in what’s called solar wind, but sometimes our star ramps up its output.)

During heightened solar activity, the charged particles disrupt the magnetic field surrounding our planet, causing a magnetic storm. They’re directed toward the poles and become trapped in the atmosphere, where they transfer energy to atoms and molecules there. When the energized atmospheric gases release their additional loads, auroras light up the sky.

The auroras’ colors give clues to which gases are involved and where the interactions are taking place. Green lights, for instance, come from interactions with oxygen at lower altitudes, around 60 to 180 miles above the surface, while red lights can indicate oxygen at higher altitudes.

Earth isn’t unique in experiencing auroras. They also occur on author planets with an atmosphere and a magnetic field. In fact, Jupiter has the largest and most powerful auroras in the solar system—they’re estimated to be up to 1,000 times brighter than those on our home planet.

But why was Meir in space to begin with? She and three other astronauts of the SpaceX Crew-12 mission arrived at the ISS in February for an eight-month mission to conduct experiments aimed at benefitting humans on Earth and advancing research for future moon and Mars missions. Their studies involve investigations of how pneumonia-causing bacteria can lead to heart damage, how to create on-demand IV fluid to help treat medical conditions during missions and how spaceflight might affect a person’s blood flow.

On June 5, NASA directed Crew-12, along with NASA astronaut Chris Williams, to leave the ISS and shelter in the SpaceX capsule while two Russian cosmonauts attempted to repair a worsening air leak on a portion of the space station operated by Russia called the PrK, which has had cracks since 2019.

Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, had noted that the leak rate had increased and that they had found new suspected leak areas in the PrK. The Russian agency decided to start more extensive repairs, using a method that NASA thought “could have resulted in elevated risk to the structure in the area,” according to a statement.

Meir and her fellow astronauts left for a brief time, but ultimately, Roscosmos paused the repair efforts while the agency assessed more data. Crew-12 and Williams were instructed to return to the ISS and resume their activities, wrote Bethany Stevens, press secretary for the NASA administrator, on social media. She posted that less than two hours after a post announcing the repair plan, which involved the temporary shelter.

“There is a lot going on right now on the @Space_Station,” Meir wrote in a social media post on June 6. “But fortunately, we are all safe and witnessed a spectacular southern aurora show yesterday thanks to a recent solar event.”

Sara Hashemi | Read More

Sara Hashemi is a science writer and fact-checker currently based in New York City. Her work has appeared in Sierra, The Body, Maisonneuve magazine and more.