NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in March of this year as commander of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission and has since become increasingly popular on X (formerly Twitter) for his stunning photos from space.
His beautiful images were taken both inside and outside the ISSand now his photos have gone viral again after he managed to capture the ethereal green Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, from space.
Dominick took the photo of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft currently docked to the ISS with the green aurora in the background.
Recent solar activity has brought the aurora closer to us. The Soyuz hangs at the station in a stream of auroras. The Soyuz is illuminated in bright blue by a sun behind the camera and in front of the space station that is just rising. 1/4 s, f1.4, 50mm, ISO 6400 pic.twitter.com/fjQcI5nVy52 August 2024
In a post on August 2, Dominick wrote: “Recent solar activity has brought the aurora closer to us. The Soyuz hangs by the space station in a stream of auroras.”
“Soyuz is illuminated in bright blue by a sun behind the camera and in front of the space station, which is just rising.”
The astronaut, who will spend about six months aboard the space station, revealed that his camera settings for capturing the aurora were 1/4 sec, f/1.4 ISO6400, using the Nikon Z9 with a 50mm DSLR lens.
During a previous master class on astrophotography live from space, Dominick said he also used a Nikon D5 aboard the space station.
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We received a shipment of cargo this week with lots of cool stuff, including some new camera lenses… spent much of the weekend with a 15mm T1.8 lens. Did a fair amount of time lapses. Still looking through thousands of images, many of them have auroras but the Milky Way is visible… pic.twitter.com/IyCZgE7yF911 August 2024
In another post on August 11, Dominick explained that he recently received some space mail, including some new camera lenses, and “spent much of the weekend with a 15mm T1.8 lens.” (How much was the shipping?)
“Did a bunch of time lapses,” he wrote. “Still looking through thousands of images, many of them have auroras, but the Milky Way in this one stood out.”
His image of the Milky Way was taken with the lens and settings 0.8 sec., T1.8, ISO25600.
The moon is approaching the horizon and setting between red and green auroras… I was set up in another window and saw this through another window. I quickly disassembled and set up a camera, camera mount and cover. I was so lucky to get this shot. 15mm, T1.8, 1s, ISO… pic.twitter.com/Z3TYlFhgNo11 August 2024
Dominick also managed to capture a clear image of the curvature of the moon in front of the aurora:
“The moon is moving towards the horizon to set between red and green auroras… I was sitting at another window and saw this through another window. I quickly dismantled and set up a camera, camera mount and cover. I was so lucky to be able to get this shot.
You can get a behind-the-scenes look at his aurora photography in the video embedded below (thanks to Nikon Rumors for the spot). If you missed the Astrophotography Masterclass in July, you can listen to it again on X.
A quick look behind the scenes: We’re taking portraits of ourselves looking out a Dragon window at the stars, from the cockpit window of the Starliner. pic.twitter.com/3Kek11PTFvJuly 23, 2024
Check out our guide to the best cameras for astrophotography, the best lenses for astrophotography and the best star tracker mounts for astrophotography.
