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‘Beautiful planet,” Anil Menon on first Aurora seen from space
The astronaut witnessed the display over Australia ahead of his first spacewalk aboard the International Space Station.
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Malvika Choudhary - Mon, 03, Aug 2026
- 12:20 EDT
- 22
NASA astronaut Anil Menon poses for a portrait at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. / NASA/Josh Valcarcel
NASA astronaut Anil Menon shared a video on Aug. 3 capturing his first view of an aurora from space, offering a rare look at the natural phenomenon from aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Posting on X, Menon said, "I'll never forget this sight. Tonight I saw my first aurora from space. Luckily, there is a video to help remember and captured it perfectly."
Also Read: Anil Menon to take first spacewalk on Aug. 6
Auroras are created when charged particles emitted by the Sun collide with gases in Earth's upper atmosphere after being guided by the planet's magnetic field.
I’ll never forget this sight. Tonight I saw my first aurora from space. Luckily, there is a video to help remember and captured it perfectly. The KP index was over 5 tonight because of a solar event and the sky over Australia lit up and the green snaked across the atmosphere.… pic.twitter.com/3i12dhq19I
— Anil Menon (@astro_anil) August 2, 2026
The resulting interactions produce shimmering bands of light, most commonly seen near the polar regions. A KP index above 5 indicates a moderate geomagnetic storm, allowing auroral displays to extend farther from the poles than under normal conditions.
Describing the display, he added, "The KP index was over 5 tonight because of a solar event and the sky over Australia lit up and the green snaked across the atmosphere. I was filled with awe and gratitude. It's a beautiful planet we share."
Menon is currently serving aboard the ISS as part of Expedition 74/75 after launching on the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft on July 14 alongside cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.
The mission is his first spaceflight and includes scientific research and technology demonstrations in human health, artificial intelligence-assisted medicine, and other technologies aimed at supporting future deep-space exploration.
The post comes just days before Menon is scheduled to undertake his first career spacewalk. On Aug. 6, he and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir will exit the station's Quest airlock for U.S. Spacewalk 96 to install hardware that will modify the station's 3B power channel and prepare it for the installation of the seventh International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA).
The new solar array is expected to increase the station's power generation capacity and support critical operations, including preparations for the ISS's eventual deorbit. The approximately 6.5-hour excursion will mark Meir's sixth spacewalk and Menon's first.
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