A stunning photo of the aurora over Siberia has been captured from a 747 cockpit by pilot Christiaan van Heijst.
Christiaan takes up the story.
“Completely unexpected this time of year: a fierce show of dancing northern lights while crossing the Siberian plains. What started as a dim green glow, barely visible to the naked eye, soon turned into a frenzy of bright lights with luminescent purple pillars that reached far into space.
“Curtains of rapidly moving light, powered by a powerful solar flare that traveled with the speed of light across the solar system. Particles that have been released from the Sun eight minutes before, caught in Earth’s magnetic field and showing up in ways words fail to describe.