Earth from Space - Image Information


LOCATION Direction Photo #: ISS052-E-63378 Date: Aug. 2017
Geographic Region: INDIAN OCEAN
Feature: PAN- AURORA AUSTRALIS, EARTH LIMB


 
Southern Lights near the Great Australian Bight

An astronaut took this photograph of the Aurora Australis in August 2017. At the time, the International Space Station was moving over the southern Indian Ocean towards the Great Australian Bight and Melbourne, Australia. Click here to see a video of the flight over the aurora.

Auroras are created in the upper atmosphere when the solar wind (a stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun) interacts with the Earth's protective magnetic field. Charged particles within the magnetosphere are accelerated down field lines toward the ionosphere, where they collide with different gases (particularly oxygen and nitrogen) and emit light as a reaction. Auroras often appear as neon green, purple, yellow, or red, depending on the gas molecules being excited. Green, for example, indicates collisions with oxygen.



Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 269k
Mission: ISS052  
Roll - Frame: E - 63378
Geographical Name: INDIAN OCEAN  
Features: PAN- AURORA AUSTRALIS, EARTH LIMB  
Center Lat x Lon: 51.5S x 100.0E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 100
 
Camera:: N6
 
Camera Tilt: HO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 22  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: E   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number:  
 
Date: 20170819   YYYYMMDD
Time: 192005   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 51.7S  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 88.5E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 154   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 221   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: -48   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:  
Water Views:  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  

Photo is not associated with any sequences


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