NASA astronaut shows us his most impressive pictures from space

At 67, Don Pettit has become NASA’s oldest active astronaut. But the fact is that, in addition to being an astronaut, Pettit has also earned a very good reputation as a rather talented photographer.. Thus, during his several flights to the International Space Station, he was able to capture views that few people had ever seen.

Well, after collecting his best memories, Don Pettit decided to share on his official account Twitter and instagram The most amazing moments caught on camera from space. Thus, not only your colleagues and NASA will be able to enjoy spectacular views from the ISS, but also the rest of humanity.

From an erupting volcano in southern Patagonia, Argentina; to the Strait of Gibraltar and the Iberian Peninsula. Don Pettit images allow us to see planet earth like never beforeand even the photographer himself in action.

Don Pettit, NASA veteran astronaut and photographer, shares his best shots

One of the first photos Don Pettit gave us is of his sunset in orbit. Image taken from the International Space Station’s Cupola module, shows us the passage of the earth in front of the sun.

As Pettit describes in his publication, “It takes 7.5 seconds for the solar disk to slide below the horizon. It goes from bright daylight to dark nighttime illumination by about a factor of two in that amount of time, so there’s no long twilight in orbit.”

Volcanic destruction in Argentinean Patagonia

On this occasion, Don Pettit let’s see the beauty of an erupting volcano captured in the near infrared. A NASA astronaut managed to film the situation from the International Space Station in 2011 and he shows us the southern region of Argentinean Patagonia like never before.

Purple areas, according to the astronaut, “show healthy forests, gray areas show where the eruption destroyed the surroundings.”

NASA photographs the Iberian Peninsula from the ISS

Surely you have never seen the Iberian Peninsula like this. The picture was taken in 2012 on the International Space Station. allows us to see some parts of the European and African continent at night. The lights, of course, belong to the main cities of the region.

The NASA astronaut also highlights that “over time, the adoption of LED lamps and their impact on light pollution can be seen.”

Impressive hydrodynamics off the coast of India

The coast of India was also photographed by Don Pettit.. In this image, a NASA astronaut introduces us to “spectacular solar reflections off the surface of the water.” He also notes that these reflections “produce an intense spot of light that not only distinguishes where there is water and where it is not, but can also show irregularities in the surface caused by surface current.”

NASA turns the Earth into a work of postmodern art

You’ve probably seen long exposure photos of car lights or fireworks. But… Have you seen what will happen if you capture the Earth in this mode? Astronaut Don Pettit did it for NASA, and the result is impressive.

And again, the image is taken from the dome of the ISS. The astronaut describes what we see in the image: “Down, city ​​lights flowing orange stripesfaint star trails are visible in the lower left corner, showing the rotation of the Earth. Without a doubt, our planet becomes art in this photo.

Don Pettit, NASA astronaut who made it possible

We have not only photographs of our planet from space. Same, we also have a video that shows us a veteran astronaut in action. On his Twitter account, Don Pettit shows how he can take pictures in visible light and quickly switch to an infrared camera.