Astronaut’s stunning photo would look just fine in an art gallery

By Trevor Mogg Published March 11, 2025

A star trail captured from the ISS. — Don Pettit/NASA

In his final days aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in a mission that’s lasted six months, American astronaut Don Pettit has posted a sublime shot that wouldn’t look out of place in an art gallery.

The extraordinary image was captured through a window of a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked at the ISS, and shows star trails and city lights on Earth some 250 miles below.

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Star trail from Crew 9 Dragon vehicle. Thanks to Babak Tafreshi for the image processing. pic.twitter.com/X6w462Wdtz

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) March 11, 2025

Pettit has shared a number of photos featuring star trails during his lastest orbital mission, but this one is definitely up there with the best of them.

At 69, Pettit is NASA’s oldest serving astronaut, and across his four orbital missions over the years, he’s become an accomplished space photographer, sharing his impressive work with his many followers on social media.

Several months ago he took time out of his busy schedule to chat with earthlings about his photography, which besides star trails also includes an image of a Crew Dragon spacecraft hurtling toward Earth, a surreal image of the Amazon basin, and a sublime shot of an aurora.

Just a few days ago, he even managed to capture the moment SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft broke up during the eighth flight test of the most powerful rocket ever to fly.

“Images from space help tell the story to people on Earth that don’t have the opportunity to go into space,” Pettit said when asked about why he loves to take photos from orbit. He added that while every image is a unique record of his orbital adventures, “the photographs help complete the story of what it means for human beings to expand into space and expand into this frontier.”

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

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