An astronaut recently took a picture of the Earth from the International Space Station that offers a very different view of our world and what lies beyond.
Astronaut Don Pettit took the image when the ISS was about 265 miles above the Pacific Ocean on January 29, 2025. The image was taken shortly before sunrise, so the parts of the world visible in the photo are still shrouded in darkness.
In the background is the gaseous, elongated Milky Way. The Milky Way is visible from the edge, meaning that the photo covers the diameter of the galaxy.
The photo was taken with a camera using low light settings and a long exposure time, which helped Pettit capture the blur of the Earth’s rotation against the focused stars of the Milky Way.
The photograph is special because our planet – so famously blue-green with patches of white clouds – instead has a mossy green hue. A thin strip of white outlines the edge of the planet’s atmosphere and the boundary between our world and space.
Petty is a member of NASA’s Expedition 72 crew, which includes astronauts Sweeney Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Haig. Williams and Wilmore have been in the headlines more than once since they became stranded in space. Recently, their situation became publicized when SpaceX owner Elon Musk said that the astronauts were stuck in space for political reasons and exchanged barbs with the former ISS commander, who insisted on the opposite opinion. Williams and Wilmore are currently expected to return to Earth in March on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
The day after this photo was taken, Williams and Wilmore completed a 5.5-hour spacewalk. Thus, Williams broke the record for the total duration of a woman’s spacewalk, bringing it to 62 hours and 6 minutes, exceeding the previous record of 60 hours and 21 minutes. So it doesn’t look like the astronauts are wasting their time on the ISS waiting for their return.
In the meantime, Pettit’s photo has entered the unique pantheon of images of our planet taken from orbit. Pettit is also the author of a remarkable image of the Earth with two satellite galaxies in the background, taken in December. As Pettit posted on X (formerly Twitter), he took the photo with a “homemade tracking device that allows you to sustain the exposure needed to photograph star fields” and “stay tuned for more photos like this one.”
Apparently, the recent surreal image of the Earth was taken using the same technology. Pettit managed to capture a clear view of the stars from low Earth orbit.
Pettit also recently made headlines by sharing a video in which he jumped into his pants with both feet at the same time. By the way, I can do it too. And I don’t need weightlessness to do it-just ask my three pairs of ripped pants.
