Aurora Borealis from the heavens

This Dec. 19, 2006, photo released by NASA and taken by a crew member on board Space Shuttle Discovery shows the Aurora Borealis, also known as 'northern lights'. The long exposure on the digital still camera enabled the astronaut to capture stars and city lights. Astronaut Sunita Williams was on board. 'You realize there's not much protecting this planet particularly when you see the view from the side like that. That's something I'd like to share with everybody so people would realize we need to protect it, ' said Williams. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center)