Milky Way photography can yield some stunning shots from here on Earth. But what if you had a vantage point at some 400km elevation? This image captured from the International Space Station gives a totally different perspective of our place in the galaxy.
The photo was captured by astronaut Don Pettit on January 29 when the ISS was about 265 miles above the Pacific Ocean. It was taken a moment before sunrise while the Earth was still in darkness. The Milky Way is seen side on so we see across its diameter, while a thin strip of light marks the edge of Earth's atmosphere (suffice it to say, this wasn't captured on one of the best camera phones).
