The orbiting astronauts at the International Space Station have turned in quite a few of their magnificent photographs from up there. There seems to be always something new to amaze the space fans.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has unveiled an image of 'The Day of Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas'. It is another space view sensation, displaying broken islands with dark blue tidal canals running in-between like streamers made out of crepe paper. The main island is off-screen to the right.
"For astronauts, this is one of the most identifiable points on the planet," NASA states. If this were just an appearance of the stunning islands seen from an unusual point of view, then that would be abundant to look at. But there seems to be something else going on around here other than this.
"Thanks to the astronaut's sturdy hands in handling a long lens in weightlessness, this photograph is very detailed to display a single airliner and its twin concentration streams," NASA inscribes. The flying machine was not the goal of the photograph, but it is an extraordinary side effect. Zoom in and you can appreciate it as a white silhouette in contradiction of the dark blue water background. The contrails stream out behind.
The photograph was taken by means of a Nikon D4 camera on July 19 when Expedition 44 crewed in the ISS. The astronaut with the sturdy hand is not disclosed.
The photograph joins an illustrious roster of recent imageries from the space station. Way back in June, NASA astronaut Terry Virts brought an impressive photograph of the pyramids at Giza. Whereas in August, Scott Kelly, who is at this time in the middle of a year-long space station halt, also shared a photograph of an aurora shining along the curvatures of the Earth.
