NASA has uploaded several videos of Earth as seen from the International Space Station, but these aren't your run-of-the-mill outer space shots. NASA's new media captures the home planet while a solar magnetic storm rages overhead -- way overhead.

The storm created spectacular displays of aurora borealis -- at least for the astronauts -- that were visible from the Mexican Riviera north to the pole, and even west, across the Pacific Ocean.

The videos are time-lapse depictions capturing anywhere from two to 15 minutes, and all of the videos feature a frame rate that represents a near real-time view from the ISS, according to NASA's Johnson Space Center.

January was a busy month for solar activity, with solar flares emitting dizzying arrays of dancing lights across the Northern Hemisphere -- the strongest, in fact, since 2005, according to scientists. Charged particles flinging toward Earth from solar explosion left humans looking toward the heavens for nights on end.

But don't call it the Rapture just yet. The sun is reportedly beginning to ramp up as part of a normal 11-year cycle of up-and-down activity, meaning that there's potential for regular solar storms -- and the lights they produce -- well into 2013.

The following videos were taken last month, between Jan. 25-30, and represent differing levels of solar activity. One of the shortest is also one of the most spectacular: a 33-second video captured on Jan. 26, depicting the skies above North Dakota to the center of the Canadian province of Quebec. In that video, the aurora rolls like waves over Earth.

All videos are courtesy of NASA's Johnson Space Center. See more, including specific descriptions of each video and it's depictions of the skies above Earth, at the JSC or at NASA's crew earth observations YouTube channel. You can also download high-resolution photos and videos there.