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OUTER SPACE — Aurorae are stunning to watch no matter where you are, but astronauts on the International Space Station enjoy a unique — and breathtaking — advantage.
Luckily for us, the astronauts frequently send photos and video of the spectacular shows back to Earth. Right now one of the most active astronauts on social media is NASA commander Scott Kelly, who shares photos of aurora and other beautiful scenes using the hashtag #YearInSpace almost every day.
The northern and southern lights, also called the aurora borealis and aurora australis, are created when coronal mass ejections from the sun collide with the Earth's magnetic field.
Happy #WorldPhotographyDay! Traveling our world 250 mi above Earth at 17,500 mph is a visionary dream. #YearInSpacepic.twitter.com/ELBqSzR7pV — Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) August 19, 2015
> [\#Aurora](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Aurora?src=hash), you have captured my attention. [\#YearInSpace](https://twitter.com/hashtag/YearInSpace?src=hash)
> Earth and I made our own [\#fireworks](https://twitter.com/hashtag/fireworks?src=hash) from [@Space\_Station](https://twitter.com/Space_Station). Happy [\#4thofJuly](https://twitter.com/hashtag/4thofJuly?src=hash)! [\#IndependenceDay](https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndependenceDay?src=hash). [\#YearInSpace](https://twitter.com/hashtag/YearInSpace?src=hash) [pic.twitter.com/zmTPRVRKaS](http://t.co/zmTPRVRKaS) > > — Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) [July 4, 2015](https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/617327595009536000)