View of the southern aurora, luminous bands or streamers of light

SL3-130-3130 (July-September 1973) --- An excellent view of the southern aurora, luminous bands or streamer of light, in the Southern Hemisphere, as photographed from the Skylab space station in Earth orbit. The space station was moving into the sunlight when this picture was taken. This view is near the edge of the aurora cap. The surface of the Earth is in the foreground. The permanent aurora over the South Pole is in the background. Scientist-astronaut Owen K. Garriott, Skylab 3 science pilot, took this photograph with a hand-held 35mm Nikon camera, with a four-second exposure at f/1.2, using high-speed Ektacrome film. Because auroras are caused by solar activity, they occur at the same time in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Photo credit: NASA