The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) are the result of electrons colliding with the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere. (Protons cause faint and diffuse aurora, usually not easily visible to the human eye.)
The five-minute clip, produced for NASA TV by Harmonic and released on Apr 17, uses time lapses shot from the International Space Station and shows the dancing lights, in gorgeous Ultra-High Definition.
Named after Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, the lights are usually seen in high latitude regions.
Source: NASA
