An astronaut aboard the International Space Station shot a video in the past week that shows the aurora borealis, or northern lights, glimmering green on the horizon as it meets the sunrise over earth.
It lasts for just fifteen incredible seconds.
As the station travels over the northeastern seaboard of America, it captures an interplay of light not only from the receding aurora and the coming dawn, but also from the cities flung out in luminous webs on land that the rising sun has yet to hit.
The film was shot by the station’s commander, Barry “Butch” Wilmore who wrote “#sunrise touches #aurora. All we need now are angels singing” when he posted the video on NASA’s Facebook page.
Washington D.C., Baltimore, New York City, and Boston have rarely looked so beautiful. The Atlantic is an expanse of cloud-spattered darkness.
Footage and photos taken by the two women and four men aboard the station, which includes a live streamed video, has been captivating cyberspace since the current mission, number 42, launched in November 2014.