NASA astronaut Don Pettit has began 2025 as he means to go on, with a shocking Earth picture that he described as a “New Yr’s gentle present.”
Pettit captured the superb picture from the Worldwide House Station (ISS), the place he’s been residing and dealing since September in his fourth journey to area.
It captures a shocking aurora over Earth, with elements of the orbital outpost additionally within the body.
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Our New Yr’s gentle present pic.twitter.com/NB3gq8dxuf
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) January 2, 2025
Auroras are literally a reasonably widespread phenomenon for astronauts aboard the area station, with will increase in photo voltaic exercise growing the probabilities of catching sight of 1.
Auroras occur when particles from photo voltaic storms conflict with gases in Earth’s ambiance, leading to lovely gentle shows above the floor of our planet.
People again on terra firma may witness the pure marvel. The best vantage factors are in places within the far north like Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Within the far south, locations like New Zealand and Australia’s Tasmania may provide nice views of aurora.
However witnessing them with your personal eyes from 250 miles above Earth should be one thing very particular for astronauts on the area station.
And it’s no shock that Pettit has managed to seize this one in such an attractive picture. The American astronaut has earned a strong popularity for his images work over his numerous orbital missions since his first one n 2002.
In his most up-to-date mission alone, he’s taken images that make clouds appear to be a murals, and rivers that Pettit described as “silver snakes.” Star trails are additionally one in every of his specialties.
Together with his eager eye, Pettit was additionally in a position to spot and {photograph} a SpaceX spacecraft because it returned to Earth at excessive pace on the finish of the historic Polaris Daybreak mission.
The astronaut just lately mentioned his images work in an interview from the area station.
With Pettit anticipated to stay on the ISS till round March, we are able to’t wait to see what different superb photographs he shares in the course of the first few months of 2025.
