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Nasa releases amazing pictures of the Northern Lights

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You've got to take a look at these new Nasa images

It's been called the most spectacular light show on earth, but not many of us ever get the chance to see it.

But now Nasa have released new images of the Northern lights, or Aurora Borealis as they're also known.

They did it by using a time-lapse camera on board the International Space Station.

It took a snap every 5 seconds and put the pictures together to form these moving images - what a spectacular view!

What causes the Northern Lights to happen?

They may look like special effects, but they are in fact natural.

It all starts when the sun spits out a solar blob, a bit like a bag of electrical jelly.

It's charged and heading to Earth at about one million miles per hour.

When it hits the Earth's magnetic field it pushes harmless currents that are floating above earth deeper in to our atmosphere around the north and south poles.

This then makes the air glow like a florescent tube.

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Leah finds out what causes the Northern Lights to happen