Earth at night

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took this image of Earth from the International Space Station and commented: “I feel we’re navigating on a black sea sprinkled with stars and Earth with its moving clouds is the sky.”

Earth’s atmosphere is visible surrounding our planet with a greenish–yellow hue. Under the clouds, city lights shine brightly.

Samantha will spend almost six months on the Space Station conducting science and maintaining the weightless research centre.

Follow Samantha and her mission via samanthacristoforetti.esa.int