ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

NASA just made the best timelapse video ever

Ultra high def footage of the Northern Lights

NASA just made the best timelapse video ever

If movies like Gravity, Interstellar and, oh you know, every single other film set beyond Earth’s atmosphere ever made have taught us one thing, it’s that space is a terrifying place.

So living aboard the International Space Station (ISS), trapped in a cramped aluminium can hurtling around the planet at 17,150 miles per hour through the inhospitable vastness of space, is actually not all it’s cracked up to be.

The food sucks, you’re constantly hitting your head, and going for a number two is a nightmare of hygiene and logistics.

But the ISS does have one thing going for it: the view.

This ultra-high definition video, released this week by NASA Television, shows what the astronauts aboard the ISS see when they look out the window, and it is jaw-droppingly beautiful.

From the Aurora Borealis dancing over the Arctic to enormous electric storms that flash across the Earth’s surface, it’s a mesmerising five minutes of time-lapse footage.

Still, we’re happy to enjoy it from the safety and comfort of our computer screens, thanks very much.