NASA astronaut Don Pettit dazzled us on Tuesday with a gorgeous image showing star trails and city lights as seen from the International Space Station (ISS).
On Wednesday, he turned the “wow” dial all the way up to 11 by sharing a video clip from which Tuesday’s image was taken.
The surreal footage (below) shows the star trail expanding, with the city lights also trailing across the frame.
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Here is a movie clip (processed by Babak- big thanks) sequentially adding the star trail still frames creating orbital motion. pic.twitter.com/upC4vNC5mA
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) March 12, 2025
Many of Pettit’s 87,000 followers on X were suitably impressed by the dramatic footage. One wrote: “That is next level phenomenal,” while someone else described it as “magically mesmerizing.” Another quipped: “Stellar work, Don!”
The long-exposure shot is one of many breathtaking photos that the American astronaut has shared with earthlings during the course of his six-month orbital mission.
This one of a gorgeous aurora over Earth grabbed a lot of attention, as did this one of an estuary in Madagascar that Pettit described as reminding him of “the arteries in your retina.”
He also snapped a unique image that captured the maiden launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket in January 2025. While the image is dominated by star trails, look closely and you can see another trail — that of the New Glenn’s upper stage in coast phase high above Earth.
Pettit is one of many astronauts who have dazzled us with their space photography skills. French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, for example, has an incredible talent for capturing beautiful shots of Earth from 250 miles up. Matthew Dominick, too, has a keen eye and shared many amazing shots throughout his six-month ISS mission, which ended last fall.
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