45-minute aurora timelapse

A timelapse video by European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake taken during his six-month Principia mission on the International Space Station.

The International Space Station travels at 28 800 km/h meaning that it only takes 90 minutes to circle Earth completely. Each orbit the Station moves around 2200 km to the West in relation to 90 minutes before.

Astronauts use normal consumer digital cameras to take pictures in their spare time. Setting the camera to take an image every few seconds and then playing the images back quickly creates this timelapse effect.

The British astronaut commented on this timelapse: "Some aurora last all through our 45-minute night"

More about the Principia mission: http://www.esa.int/Principia

Follow Tim Peake via http://timpeake.esa.int