Flying Over the Earth at Night

This video is so amazing that I had to repost it as it came. This was originally posted on “Astronomy Picture of the Day“, a daily blog site highly recommended for everyone with an interest in astronomy.

Video Credit: Gateway to Astronaut Photography, NASA ; Compilation: David Peterson (YouTube);
Music: Freedom Fighters (Two Steps from Hell)

Explanation: Many wonders are visible when flying over the Earth at night. A compilation of such visual spectacles was captured recently from the International Space Station (ISS) and set to rousing music. Passing below are white clouds, orange city lights, lightning flashes in thunderstorms, and dark blue seas. On the horizon is the golden haze of Earth’s thin atmosphere, frequently decorated by dancing auroras as the video progresses. The green parts of auroras typically remain below the space station, but the station flies right through the red and purple auroral peaks. Solar panels of the ISS are seen around the frame edges. The ominous wave of approaching brightness at the end of each sequence is just the dawn of the sunlit half of Earth, a dawn that occurs every 90 minutes.