NASA astronaut in ISS shares spectacular visuals of aurora triggered by recent solar storm

The sun is currently heading toward the most active period of its solar cycle, effects of which are being seen on our planet, especially in the polar regions. Recently, a strong flare of ionised particles was burped by the sun which triggered a stunning display of auroras. NASA astronaut Bob Hines, who is currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), captured the incredible views from the orbital outpost and shared them on Twitter. 

"Absolutely SPECTACULAR aurora today!!! Thankful for the recent solar activity resulting in these wonderful sights! (sic)," the astronaut captioned his post. 

Hines arrived at the space station on April 27 along with two other NASA astronauts-- Kjell Lindgren and Jessica Watkins-- along with one European astronaut-- Samantha Christoforetti. These four astronauts were part of the Crew-4 mission which was launched by SpaceX from the Kennedy Space Center on April 27.

As for the solar flares, they managed to leave streaks of light in unexpected regions of the planet, one of which is areas in Southern Canada. Earlier on August 9, astrophotographer Alan Dyer shared a few pictures on Twitter revealing that the light streaks appeared like a pink ribbon in the night sky on August 7 and 8. According to Dyer, the lights were visible for around 40 minutes in Canada's southern Alberta. 

The photographer said that it was "a great showing of the Steve phenomenon" which according to NASA, is somewhat similar to an aurora but very little is known about this mysterious event. 

Sun heads toward the peak of its solar cycle

Every 11 years, the sun undergoes a solar cycle owing to the change in its magnetism. According to NASA, the sun's magnetic poles swap places meaning its north pole acts as south and vice-versa and this increases the amount of activity on its surface. When the cycle begins, it is called solar minimum whereas the middle of the cycle is called solar maximum, meaning the amount of activity such as the eruption of solar flares and coronal mass ejections increases. 

Notably, it is the period of solar minimum when the number of sunspots is the least whereas this number increases when the sun heads toward solar maximum. NASA says that the sun entered solar cycle 25 in December 2019 and will reach its maximum in 2025.

Image: Twitter/@Astro_FarmerBob