Timelapse video made during ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Alpha”. The camera is setup to take pictures at regular intervals, the pictures are then played quickly after each other at 12 times faster than normal speed. Thomas shared this video on social media with the caption:

“Auroraspectacular, #timelapse edition! Trying to convey the wonders of spaceflight you have to make choices: pictures, video, timelapse… I went for timelapse this time to show how the aurora dances below us, but like other formats it only does nature's show part justice. “

Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency CNES.

Latest updates on the Alpha mission can be found via @esaspaceflight on Twitter, with more details on ESA’s exploration blog via thomaspesquet.esa.int.

Background information on the Alpha mission is available at www.esa.int/MissionAlpha with a brochure at www.esa.int/AlphaBrochure