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Astronaut on ISS captures spectacular orbital video of zodiacal light, auroras and the Pleiades
Astronaut on ISS captures spectacular orbital video of zodiacal light, auroras and the Pleiades

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An image of low Earth orbit captured from the International Space Station, showing the curve of Earth at the bottom of the screen with the black of space beyond. The outer hull of the station is visible at the bottom of the screen, as are solar panels.
Credit: Kimiya Yui via X

Astronaut Kimiya Yui captured a jaw-dropping timelapse video showcasing the beauty of low-Earth orbit as seen from the International Space Station.

Yui's 300th cumulative day in space came during his second tour of duty aboard the orbital station for the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) n, which is set to end prematurely as a result of an undisclosed medical issue affecting an unnamed astronaut who launched alongside Yui as part of SpaceX's Crew-11 mission.

"As a token of gratitude for allowing me to have such a precious experience over 300 days, I'd like to introduce a slightly unusual timelapse from the window," wrote Yui in a post on the social media site X accompanying the video.

An image of low Earth orbit captured from the International Space Station, showing the curve of Earth at the bottom of the screen with the black of space beyond. The outer hull of the station is visible at the bottom of the screen, as are solar panels.
A view of low-Earth orbit captured from the International Space Station | Credit: Kimiya Yui via X

Yui's video kicked off with a dramatic display of zodiacal light, which formed as sunlight reflected off a cloud of interplanetary dust particles to form a column of light above the colorful arc of our Blue Marble.

Green aurora can be seen dancing in Earth's upper atmosphere as the zodiacal light fades, shimmering between the profiles of the space station's solar panels as they rotate to track the sun. The bright stars of the constellations Pegasus, Andromeda and Ares also rotate into view as the station continues its lap of Earth.

Finally, eagle-eyed observers may also notice the seven most prominent white-blue stars of the Pleiades open star cluster appear to the upper left of the screen towards the end of the footage to descend toward the modular form of the ISS.

Curious about the long-running orbital laboratory? Be sure to check out our article detailing everything you need to know about the International Space Station and don't forget that you can always tune in to live orbital views of Earth streamed from SEN cameras mounted to the outside or the orbital station right here on Space.com. Why not also check out our review of the official LEGO kit for the ISS, that'll let you bring the venerable space station into your own front room!

Editor's Note: If you would capture a timelapse view of the night sky and want to share your astrophotography with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to [email protected].

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