If you were awed by the dazzling aurora display seen early in October 2024, these images of the Northern Lights from space are for you.
The aurora display of 10-13 October 2024 was yet another amazing show of the Northern Lights, and followed the memorable aurora seen in May 2024.
This view of the aurora over northeastern USA near Chicago, and into the Canadian province of Quebec, was captured by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the Joint Polar Satellite System, operated by the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
The VIIRS is able to observe Earth at night, picking up features like city lights and aurorae using its multiple-wavelength view.
The story of this aurora display began on On 8 October 2024, when a powerful geomagnetic storm was recorded erupting from the Sun.
This lead to an intense Northern Lights show being seen across the USA, Canada, UK and Ireland, Europe and elsewhere around the world.
The Sun's activity has been increasing as it moves into the peak of its 11-year cycle, known as the Solar Cycle.
This causes an increase in the frequency and intensity of displays as seen from Earth - and also from space.
In VIIRS satellite view of the aurora above, the Northern Lights appear as wisps of smoky-white, crossing Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan in the US, and into Canada.
Meanwhile, astronaut Don Pettit achieved a much more colourful view of the October aurora display from his enviable viewpoint onboard the International Space Station.
Pettit and his colleague Matthew Dominick made headlines in September 2024 for their images of Comet C/2023 A3 from the Space Station, and this time he was able to photograph the Northern Lights.
Posting from his X account, Pettit said: "Aurora had been just so-so; we were out of energy at the end of a long day and reluctant to once again set up our cameras up for yet another “No Show”. We were just heading to some much needed sleep when we made the mistake of peeking out the Cupola windows. Stunning was the word.
"It looked like the Space Station had been shrunk to some miniature dimension and inserted into a neon sign. We were not flying above the aurora; we were flying in the aurora. And it was blood red.
"Caught off guard, we hastily set up our cameras, four of them, all snapping shutters as fast as they could, creating a syncopated rhythm that accented Nature’s artistic display presented before us."
NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using VIIRS day-night band data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS).
Did you capture an image of the October aurora display? Let us know by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
