Natural phenomena are undoubtedly awe-inspiring, and this meteor shower lighting up the sky over the Northern Hemisphere has not disappointed.
The grand event was witnessed last weekend by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. The picture posted by the astronaut on social media portrays the brilliant lights of various meteors flashing into the atmosphere.
ISS astronaut captured the Quadrantids meteor shower from space
The cherries on the cake were the appearance of streamers of the greenish glow of the aurora borealis, or northern lights captured in the picture as well. Perfect combination!
“Can you see shooting stars from space? Turns out, yes! The first meteor shower of the decade and we were lucky enough to catch it from the @Space_Station along with the northern lights. This is a composite image of a few of the #quadrantids as they blazed into the atmosphere,” posted Christina H Koch, NASA astronaut, on her tweeter account.
The first meteor shower of 2020, a Quadrantids (QUA), are a January meteor shower, well-known for their bright fireball meteors. NASA describes it as more massive explosions of light and color that can last longer than an average meteor streak.
“The Quadrantids, which peak during early January each year, are considered to be one of the best annual meteor showers,” says NASA on its solar system exploration website.
About Astronaut Christina Koch
Astronaut Koch broke Peggy’s Whitson record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, making history in December. The former record keeper being set up back in 2017, consisting of 288 consecutive days in space. “Finally found Mount Everest through the lens. Can you?” said Koch in a different tweet.
Koch will remain on the International Space Station until February 2020, based on NASA’s schedule, which means a slightly short amount of time than the longest single spaceflight record set by a NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, consisting of 340 days. Astronauts typically stay on the station for six months.
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