All of the lights 🌌 A captivating display of light is captured from the International Space Station (ISS) as it orbits 271 miles above the southern Indian Ocean in between Asia and Antarctica. Observing auroras – and discovering what causes them to change over time – gives researchers insight into how our planet's magnetosphere reacts to the space weather near Earth. The dancing lights of the aurora provide spectacular views from the ground, but can also give scientists valuable insights into the incoming energy and particles from the Sun. The Sun continuously produces a solar wind made of charged particles that flow outward into the solar system. When the solar wind reaches Earth’s magnetic field, it can cause magnetic reconnection, an explosive process that allows charged particles from space to accelerate into the atmosphere. Earth’s tear-shaped magnetic field – called the magnetosphere – continuously responds to the changing intensity of the solar wind. The solar wind partic...