Amazing Milky Way photo shows Earth from a unique perspective

Milky Way photography can yield some stunning shots from here on Earth. But what if you had a vantage point at some 400km elevation? This image captured from the International Space Station gives a totally different perspective of our place in the galaxy.

The photo was captured by astronaut Don Pettit on January 29 when the ISS was about 265 miles above the Pacific Ocean. It was taken a moment before sunrise while the Earth was still in darkness. The Milky Way is seen side on so we see across its diameter, while a thin strip of light marks the edge of Earth's atmosphere (suffice it to say, this wasn't captured on one of the best camera phones).

I'd love to know more details on this specific shot. But like other images that Don has captured from the ISS, it appears to have been shot using his homemade orbital tracker to allow a long exposure without blurring the stars – hence the blur of the Earth's rotation while the Milky Way looks pin sharp.

For other photos, Don has shared details of his setup and settings on Reddit. He tends to use a Nikon Z9 with the Sigma 14mm f1.4 and exposure lengths of around 10 sec at f1.4 and ISO 12800. He'll then adjust levels, gamma, contrast and color in Photoshop, being careful to make sure the colours are natural. Check out his setup in the Reddit post below!

Setting up in the Cupola; only 5 cameras this time. from r/astrophotography

In many of Don's shots, the world looks very different to how we're used to seeing it from space all blue and green when it's lit by the sun. It's really striking to see the atmospheric airglow that appears to form a border between our world and space beyond.

Don is part of NASA’s Expedition 72 crew, which also includes astronauts and Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, who are now expected to return to Earth this month. He took the photo a day before Williams and Wilmore did an epic spacewalk lasting 5.5 hours.

For more astro magic, see our roundup of optical illusions in space and the NASA Pride flag.