Green auroras and a SpaceX Dragon glow in new astronaut photos from the ISS

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The long-duration photographs capture Earth in motion.

a white space capsule is seen through the window of the international space station, with a green aurora and earth's city lights in the background
A docked SpaceX Dragon at the International Space Station shines in this timelapse image by NASA astronaut Don Pettit taken in November 2024. In the background is an aurora and the streaks of city lights on Earth, indicating the motion of the ISS. (Image credit: NASA/Don Pettit)

There's a fire in the sky, and it's not because of the Dragon in sight.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit captured both an aurora and a docked SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at the International Space Station (ISS) recently.

In the timelapse photo, city lights appear as glowing streaks on Earth, some 250 miles (400 kilometers) below the orbiting complex.

Meanwhile, high activity from the sun sparked green northern lights visible on the horizon. (Auroras happen when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's upper atmosphere.)

Related: 'Spaceborne': Astronaut Don Pettit's amazing space photos (gallery)

As shown in his other photos, however, Pettit sometimes crops his images so the outline of the ISS window is not visible. But the four-time spaceflyer added that he's conscientious about such framing.

green auroras glow above city lights in a photo taken from the international space station

NASA astronaut Don Pettit captured an aurora in November 2024 off the coast of Vancouver (presumably Vancouver in the United States, not Canada, although NASA did not specify in the photo caption). Pettit was working on the International Space Station at the time. (Image credit: NASA/Don Pettit)

"When observing Earth, I like the effect of an oval window," Pettit wrote Sunday (Nov. 12) on X, formerly Twitter, of his view from the ISS.

countless stars shine above the curve of earth, as seen from the international space station

NASA astronaut Don Pettit captured the Milky Way above Earth, from the International Space Station, in November 2024. (Image credit: NASA/Don Pettit)
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"It adds a certain measure of aesthetics over that of a round window," Pettit noted of photographing through the oval.

"However," he joked, "when you are living in a metal can for six months at a time, I will be happy with any shape of window."

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Elizabeth Howell
Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams.