The lights of the big city. NASA astronaut shows stunning photos of the Earth from space

A NASA astronaut has shown amazing photos of the Earth from space. Don Pettit, who is currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), took the picture from an altitude of 400 kilometers.

In the space photo you can see the lights of cities. The incredible aurora borealis was also captured, Space.com reports.

The astronaut took a stunning photo when the orbiting laboratory passed over the territory of Mexico and the United States. That's why the Earth shines so brightly in the frame with the lights of cities from space.

Pettit also managed to capture the aurora on the horizon. These colored lights appear when energetic particles from the Sun interact with the Earth's upper atmosphere, scientists explain.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit often shares his long-exposure photos that he takes from the dome of the International Space Station. This hobby, in his free time from his main job at the orbital laboratory, has already won considerable support from the astronaut's readers on his social media pages.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that NASA astronaut Don Pettit created a "Jupiter-like planet" on the ISS using water and food coloring.

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