Northern Europe

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst took this image circling Earth on the International Space Station during his six-month Blue Dot mission.

Published during a German national holiday, Alexander commented: "The Space Station crew wishes Germany a happy 3 October"

Read more about the Blue Dot mission at http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Blue_dot

Follow Alexander via alexandergerst.esa.int