New photos of the northern lights taken by a satellite the aurora as you've probably never seen them before.
The Suomi NPP satellite took a series of images this week showing the northern lights above the United States and Canada glowing in wispy black and white.
The photos were taken in infrared using the satellite's VIIRS instrument, which collects data measuring various aspects of Earth's land, atmosphere and oceans in order to learn more about how global climate is changing. The instrument is extremely sensitive to outgoing light, and in the past has captured Hurricane Sandy illuminated by moonlight as it spun its way northward off the East Coast in 2012.
More stunning images of the Aurora Borealis captured by Suomi NPP last night! #NorthernLights #ItsAmazingOutThere pic.twitter.com/2H6Me99aSb— UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) September 9, 2015
Suomi NPP #VIIRS reveals less active #NorthernLights last night. #RealEarth™ composite at http://t.co/5KOWKjtOMD pic.twitter.com/Q1U6PeeReo— UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) September 10, 2015
The northern lights have been active this week as Earth's magnetic field has been buffeted by a series of solar storms.
Auroras are produced when particles shot into space from the sun slam into the planet's magnetic field. The particles are drawn to the north and south poles along magnetic field lines, where they interact with neutral particles in Earth's upper atmosphere, causing them to glow in various colors.
If a solar storm is particularly strong, the auroras can sometimes be seen in lower latitudes as more particles make it into the upper atmosphere.
People on the ground (and in space) have seen some very active auroras this week.
WOW! Northern Lights last night seen from Eagle River, Wisconsin. Photo: Scott Pearson. #Aurora #NorthernLights pic.twitter.com/8MvBZd7G0Y— Mark Tarello (@mark_tarello) September 8, 2015
@AuroraMAX Great #NorthernLights just north of #Winnipeg last night. pic.twitter.com/YC1FVEwRrm— Joseph Koensgen (@josephkoensgen) September 8, 2015
@AuroraMAX Around 9:30 this evening north of Estevan, SK. pic.twitter.com/6HujQujBik— Wanda Harron (@WandaHarron) September 8, 2015
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly took some amazing photos of auroras dancing above Earth from his post on the International Space Station.
Must be a big #solarstorm because there's some crazy green stuff going on outside! #Aurora #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/ukngn5gZ9v— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) September 7, 2015
Kelly -- a veteran of three previous space missions who is now spending a full year on the Space Station -- described the auroras as some of the most amazing things he's ever seen in his long spaceflight career.
"Yesterday, we had some incredible auroras outside, like none I've ever seen before with regards to how vivid it was," Kelly said during a press conference Tuesday.
"I would say yesterday was probably the second-most impressive thing I've ever seen. The first thing was when I saw Earth from space the first time."
This #aurora is impressive! #YearInSpace. pic.twitter.com/mf3YSmZwtb— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) September 7, 2015