Aurora over the south pole

The aurora australis, or southern lights, snakes across the permanently dark winter skies of the south pole above the Concordia research station. The misty red band of light known as the Milky Way rises high into the sky.

Stars appear slightly smeared due to the rotation of Earth during the exposure of the image.

The image was taken on 18 July 2012 and first published on ESA’s Concordia blog.