June 7, 2012 at 8:59 am

21 Star Trails Captured from Space

by twistedsifter

 

Currently on-board the International Space Station, NASA astronaut and Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit, recently uploaded an incredible gallery of star trails to NASA’s Johnson Space Center Flickr page.

Speaking about the star trails that result from taking long exposure images (i.e., a photo taken with a slow shutter speed), Petit relayed some information about the photographic techniques used to achieve the images:

“My star trail images are made by taking a time exposure of about 10 to 15 minutes. However, with modern digital cameras, 30 seconds is about the longest exposure possible, due to electronic detector noise effectively snowing out the image. To achieve the longer exposures I do what many amateur astronomers do. I take multiple 30-second exposures, then ‘stack’ them using imaging software, thus producing the longer exposure.”

In the amazing gallery below we get a surreal glimpse of Earth as seen from the ISS as it hurtles around our planet at an average speed of 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h). Enjoy!

 

 

1.

 

jsc2012e051507_alt

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

2.

 

jsc2012e051506_alt

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

3.

 

jsc2012e051505_alt

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

4.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 4 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

5.

 

jsc2012e039798_alt

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

6.

 

jsc2012e039802_alt

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

7.

 

jsc2012e052675

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

8.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 8 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

9.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 9 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

10.

 

jsc2012e052679

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

11.

 

jsc2012e052683

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

12.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 12 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

13.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 13 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

14.

 

jsc2012e052683

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

15.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 15 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

16.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 16 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

17.

 

jsc2012e053861_alt

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

18.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 18 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

19.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 19 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

20.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 20 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

21.

 

star trails seen from space iss nasa don pettit 21 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

Photograph by NASA/Don Pettit

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this post, the Sifter highly recommends:

 

 

aurora australis over new zealand tasman sea nasa 21 Star Trails Captured from Space

 

 

 

crab nebula nasa 21 Star Trails Captured from Space