Auroras in the night

The ethereal glow of the southern lights creates a spectacular show in the night sky over Antarctica in this photo. The southern lights (also known as aurora australis) are the southern hemisphere's counterparts to the northern lights. Both are triggered by charged particles from the solar wind interacting with the Earth's atmosphere. As these particles pass through Earth's magnetic shield and travel to the polar regions, they emit brief flashes of light as they mingle with the atoms and molecules in the atmosphere.

This photo was taken during a recent mission to Antarctica by scientists at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. The expedition required 49 scientists and 44 crew members to live in Antarctica during the region's winter months, from June to August.