Is This the Earth?: An Astronaut Presents a Truly Unique Image.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit is known for his ability to capture stunning images of space, and his latest work is sure to further solidify his reputation.
The astronaut Don Pettit, known for his stunning photographs of space, has taken his talent to a new level with a recent image shared on social media. This photograph captures the Earth illuminated, creating a beautiful ray-like light effect, resulting from long and multiple exposures that allow cities around the world to be seen at night from the International Space Station (ISS).
This image is significant as it marks the first time Pettit has managed to capture both a sunset and a sunrise within the same frame simultaneously. Additionally, star trails are visible, and upon closer inspection, lightning and auroras can also be seen. The astronaut, who arrived at the ISS in September for his fourth mission, used a Nikon Z9 camera and a 15mm wide-angle lens to capture this scene, exposing the image for 30 seconds to obtain the individual shots which were digitally stitched together in Photoshop, resulting in a composition equivalent to a continuous exposure of half an hour.
Pettit, who is NASA's oldest active astronaut at 69 years old, emphasized the importance of his new photographic equipment. In his post, he mentioned that this fast lens has allowed him to explore photographic possibilities that were not viable before. Apparently, the star trails in the image are not generated by the Earth's rotation, but by the orbital movement of the ISS, along with the lights of the cities and atmospheric luminescence.
Recently, the astronaut also drew attention by capturing the Polaris Dawn crew returning to Earth at high speed using a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Additionally, he has shared photographs of Earth that are so artistic they resemble masterpieces rather than mere images.
