Public domain
Space Science
From the collection of NASA Image and Video Library. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Auroras are caused when high-energy electrons pour down from the Earth's magnetosphere and collide with atoms. Red aurora, as captured here by a still digital camera aboard the International Space Station (ISS), occurs from 200 km to as high as 500 km altitude and is caused by the emission of 6300 Angstrom wavelength light from oxygen atoms. The light is emitted when the atoms return to their original unexcited state.
NASA Image and Video Library’s own descriptionCredit lineSpace Science. NASA/MSFC, 2001-10-01. Public domain. ID: 0300803.
