"It was dancing and snaking directly below the capsule."
Astronaut Jessica Meir reported observing the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights, from the SpaceX Dragon capsule docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on June 5, 2026.
The aurora was triggered by a solar event that caused a burst of charged particles to interact with Earth's magnetosphere. Meir described the display as "dancing and snaking" directly below the capsule.
The event occurred while Meir and NASA astronaut Chris Williams were sheltering in the Dragon capsule due to an air leak on the Russian segment of the ISS.
Meir is on an 8-month mission conducting experiments on human biology and medicine in space.