Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Colors of the aurora: Red, green, purple… black?
Mysterious “black auroras” are real, and they’re not like the northern and southern lights you’ve seen before. Inside these dark spots, strange physics is at work — and a NASA rocket just launched from Alaska to reveal it.
On Feb. 9, 2026, NASA launched the Black and Diffuse Auroral Science Surveyor sounding rocket mission from the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska. Flying their rocket through the black aurora, the team, led by principal investigator Marilia Samara, placed scientific instruments inside a black aurora to help reveal how and why they form.
NASA’s Illuminate: Out-of-this-world images shining light on our Sun and solar system.
Music credit: "Solo Trip” by Nicholas Smith [PRS] from Universal Production Music
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Producer/Editor/Narrator: Lacey Young (eMITS)
Writer: Lacey Young (eMITS), Miles Hatfield (eMITS)
Sound Effects:
Pixabay
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14954. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14954. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/.
If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard
Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram: instagram.com/nasagoddard
· X: twitter.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: facebook.com/NASAGoddard
· Flickr: flickr.com/photos/gsfc
Colors of the aurora: Red, green, purple… black?
Mysterious “black auroras” are real, and they’re not like the northern and southern lights you’ve seen before. Inside these dark spots, strange physics is at work — and a NASA rocket just launched from Alaska to reveal it.
On Feb. 9, 2026, NASA launched the Black and Diffuse Auroral Science Surveyor sounding rocket mission from the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska. Flying their rocket through the black aurora, the team, led by principal investigator Marilia Samara, placed scientific instruments inside a black aurora to help reveal how and why they form.
NASA’s Illuminate: Out-of-this-world images shining light on our Sun and solar system.
Music credit: "Solo Trip” by Nicholas Smith [PRS] from Universal Production Music
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Producer/Editor/Narrator: Lacey Young (eMITS)
Writer: Lacey Young (eMITS), Miles Hatfield (eMITS)
Sound Effects:
Pixabay
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14954. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14954. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/.
If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard
Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram: instagram.com/nasagoddard
· X: twitter.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: facebook.com/NASAGoddard
· Flickr: flickr.com/photos/gsfc
