From a vantage point about 360 km (225 miles) over the Earth, Space Station crewmembers photographed the crescent moon through the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere. At the bottom of the image, a closed deck of clouds is probably at about 6 km (3 miles). The shades of blue grading to black are caused by the scatter of light as it strikes gas molecules of the very low density upper atmosphere.
The diffuse orange and green bands of light are caused by molecules in the atmosphere that have been energized by absorbing ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.
Photographers captured these digital photos of a four-stage Black Brant XII sounding rocket and the aurora borealis on December 12, 2010, during the NASA-funded Rocket Experiment for Neutral Upwelling (RENU).