Astronaut Don Pettit’s Photos from Space

NASA astronaut Don Pettit photographs new and old solar arrays side by side. The technology used by the new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (IROSA) on the right was first tested aboard the station in 2017. By 2023, six IROSAs were deployed aboard station, providing a 20-30% increase in power for research and operations. Roll-Out Solar Arrays were also used on NASA’s DART asteroid mission and now are slated for the Gateway lunar outpost, a vital component of Artemis.

The city of Athens, Greece glows brilliantly in this nighttime satellite view captured from the International Space Station. The sprawling metropolitan area displays a distinctive radial pattern of lights spreading outward from the ancient city center, with major transportation corridors visible as bright arteries extending into the surrounding darkness.

The Betsiboka River in Madagascar reveals nature's artistry in this view from the International Space Station. Sediment-laden waters create dramatic rust-colored tendrils flowing into the ocean, showcasing the extensive erosion occurring in Madagascar's highlands and forming one of the most visually striking river deltas visible from space.

Dubai's ambitious coastal development shines brightly in this nighttime image taken from the International Space Station. The city's distinctive grid pattern is visible with the Burj Khalifa area appearing in an intensely illuminated cluster just above and to the right of the image center, while artificial islands including Palm Jumeirah extend into the dark waters of the Persian Gulf.

Chicago's famous urban grid creates a mesmerizing pattern of lights in this nighttime image captured from the International Space Station. The city's strict geometric street design is clearly visible against the dark expanse of Lake Michigan, with the downtown area appearing as a concentrated bright zone along the shoreline.

Comet C/2023-A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) and a meteor streak across the night sky above Earth's colorful atmospheric layers in this remarkable view from the International Space Station, capturing multiple celestial phenomena in a single frame.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit photographs “cosmic colors at sunrise.” From 250 miles above, the International Space Station’s orbital path covers most of Earth’s population, offering valuable data and a great opportunity for shooting breathtaking photography.

Astronaut Don Pettit sets up cameras in the International Space Station's cupola, surrounded by the densely packed scientific equipment and monitoring systems that fill the station's premier Earth observation facility. The cupola's unique multi-windowed design makes it the ideal location for photography and Earth observation activities aboard the ISS.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit demonstrates electrostatic forces using charged water droplets and a knitting needle made of Teflon. This series of overlapping frames displays the unique attraction-repulsion properties of Teflon and charged droplets, similar to how charged particles from the Sun behave when they come in contact with Earth’s magnetic field. Highly energetic particles from space that collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere create the aurora borealis.

Ice-covered Lake Baikal, the world's oldest and deepest freshwater lake, is perfectly framed through the central window of the International Space Station's cupola. This unique perspective from 400 kilometers above showcases the ancient Siberian lake's distinctive crescent shape beneath its frozen winter surface, surrounded by the snow-covered landscape of the Baikal Rift Valley.

Star trails streak across the night sky in this long-exposure photograph taken from the International Space Station. The image captures both the station's complex array of modules and solar panels in the foreground and Earth's thin atmospheric glow, while the long exposure reveals the apparent motion of stars and city lights streaming below caused by the ISS's 17,500 mph orbital velocity around our planet.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit helped his colleagues suit up for two spacewalks in January. The first spacewalk involved patching the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), a telescope that measures X-rays from neutron stars and other cosmic objects. Sunlight interference affected data collection, and the patches reduced this issue. On the second spacewalk, astronauts collected samples from the exterior of the International Space Station for ISS External Microorganisms. This investigation examines whether the orbiting laboratory releases microbes, how many, and how far these may travel. Findings could inform the design of future spacecraft, including spacesuits, to limit biocontamination during future space missions.

Star field image of the Southern Cross from Space_Station during Expedition 6 in 2003 showing the atmosphere on edge illuminated by green airglow from atomic oxygen.

At this time Space Station’s orbital attitude was a solar inertial attitude (XPOP) that allowed the solar panels to point towards the sun without any tracking (solar tracking was not added to ISS until much later). Essentially, the station itself was the tracking mechanism thus for a camera mounted to Space Station, a time exposure yielded stars as pinpoints.

Since about 2006, ISS has flown an Earth pointing attitude where one side remains pointed nadir towards Earth (LVLH) and time exposures yield stars that are arcing trails. This attitude limits sharp star images to less than a half second.

Star field from the International Space Station. Taken from the SpaceX Crew 9 Dragon vehicle showing the Southern Cross region using my homemade star tracker which counters ISS attitude change in the pitch axis so time exposures show stars as points instead of streaks. Without this tracker, about half a second exposure is the longest.

Big thanks to Babak Tafreshi for doing the image processing I can’t do on orbit.

A mesmerizing view of Earth and space captured from the Crew 9 Dragon vehicle while docked to the International Space Station in March 2025. This long-exposure photograph reveals star trails streaking across the sky as the ISS orbits Earth, while below, city lights create luminous ribbons across the planet's surface. The bright white flashes scattered throughout the scene are lightning strikes, highlighting the dynamic nature of Earth's atmosphere as seen from the unique vantage point of low Earth orbit.

Sunglint creates a spectacular silver ribbon effect as it reflects off the White Nile river near Kursomba, South Sudan, as captured from the International Space Station on December 26, 2024. This phenomenon occurs when sunlight creates specular reflections off water surfaces, lasting only a few seconds in any given location as the ISS travels at approximately 17,500 mph. The bright reflections highlight the river's meandering path and intricate network of channels against the darker surrounding landscape.

NASA astronaut Suni Williams conducts a spacewalk outside the International Space Station in this striking photograph taken by fellow crew member Don Pettit. Williams is positioned on the station's robotic Canadarm2 against the dramatic backdrop of Earth's curvature and the station's expansive solar arrays, illustrating the complex and challenging work performed during extravehicular activities in the unique environment of space.

The 'Thai aurora' illuminates the night in this stunning long-exposure photograph captured by astronaut Don Pettit from the International Space Station. This mesmerizing phenomenon occurs when fishing boats off the coast of Thailand use bright green lights to attract fish, creating an aurora-like glow that radiates across the ocean surface when viewed from space. The term, popularized by Pettit himself, describes the collective brilliance of hundreds of fishing vessels operating simultaneously in Southeast Asian waters, producing a light display that rivals nature's own aurora borealis.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit’s photography could contribute to the study of transient luminous events, colorful electrical discharges that occur above thunderstorms. His imagery can be paired with data from the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) and Thor-Davis, a high-speed thunderstorm camera. The combined efforts of crew photography and instruments aboard the International Space Station help scientists better understand thunderstorms and their impacts on Earth’s upper atmosphere.

Like a glowing fingernail clipping in the sky, the waning crescent moon was photographed from the International Space Station in January 2025. Earth's limb displays a brilliant sequence of atmospheric layers, with deep oranges and yellows in the troposphere containing most of the atmosphere's mass and water vapor, pink to white regions marking the stratosphere, and blue layers in the upper atmosphere that gradually fade into the blackness of space.

Star field showing M31, Andromeda and M33, the Pinwheel in Triangulum. The red is f-region atmospheric airglow coupled with some red and green aurora near the soon to rise sun with streaking city lights. Time exposure taken from the Cupola using my homemade star tracker.