NASA Astronauts Hail 6 Months of ISS Auroras Over Last Week's Eclipse

Q: What hidden solar forces are causing astronauts to witness massive, snake-like green auroras directly beneath their spacecraft?

The “hidden” force is space weather from the Sun: bursts of charged plasma and magnetic fields, especially coronal mass ejections and heightened solar wind from an active phase of the solar cycle. When those eruptions reach Earth, they disturb the planet’s magnetic field and drive geomagnetic storms. Earth’s magnetism funnels many of the incoming charged particles toward the polar regions, where they collide with oxygen and nitrogen high in the atmosphere. Those collisions release light, producing auroras. The green, snake-like aurora Meir described is most likely the common green emission from oxygen atoms, typically at roughly 60 miles (about 100 kilometers) altitude. From the International Space Station, astronauts look down on the aurora from above, so the display can appear like a glowing ribbon or moving serpent beneath the spacecraft rather than a curtain on the horizon. The reason the auroras have looked especially vivid is that the Sun has been in a more active period, with stronger eruptions capable of intensifying auroral displays. Recent space weather reporting has pointed to Earth-directed CMEs, sometimes even multiple CMEs merging, which can strengthen geomagnetic storms and brighten auroras far beyond their usual range. So the spectacle is not mysterious so much as powerful solar physics in action: magnetized solar plasma leaving the Sun, striking Earth’s magnetic environment, and lighting the upper atmosphere directly below the station.

3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 19

Six months into their ISS mission, Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway said auroras have been more spectacular than eclipses, even after watching a partial solar eclipse from orbit last week.
The station’s position kept them from seeing totality, but Meir said heightened solar activity recently pushed vivid green auroras directly beneath the outpost instead of near the poles.
Next week’s lunar eclipse is their next target as the pair continue a mission launched in February and prepare to return on a SpaceX craft after replacements arrive next month.
The 7-member station crew now includes 3 Americans, 3 Russians and 1 French astronaut, while Meir and crewmates have also highlighted orbit life with music, cooking and station-grown greens.