Astronaut captures mesmerizing auroras with iPhone from ISS | Space photo of the day for Oct. 13, 2026

Astronaut Anil Menon photographed Earth’s northern lights from the International Space Station on Oct. 10, using an iPhone camera. The image shows pink, purple and red auroras dancing over the planet’s night side, with faint city lights and bright stars visible through the station’s solar panels and hull.

The lights appeared during a period of heightened geomagnetic activity after several coronal mass ejections struck Earth’s magnetic field, producing minor (G1) to strong (G3) storms. Charged particles were funneled along magnetic field lines to the polar regions, colliding with atmospheric gases. Nitrogen at 60‑120 mi (100‑200 km) creates the blue‑purple glow, while oxygen above 125 mi (200 km) emits the red hue.

Menon noted that the auroras reflected off the ISS like “Christmas LEDs,” making the view more immersive. The photo underscores the growing power of smartphone astrophotography. Unlike the Nikon cameras astronauts sometimes use, iPhones now include dedicated night‑sky modes, and they were also used by the Artemis 2 crew to document a moon flyby earlier this year.

This image demonstrates that a consumer phone can capture vivid, scientifically relevant space phenomena.

This is a new example of a space‑borne smartphone image of auroras.

It highlights the expanding toolkit for astronauts and hobbyists alike, and future missions