Skip to main content

Astronaut shares dazzling star-filled video from the space station

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick has shared another amazing time-lapse video from the International Space Station (ISS), where he’s been living and working since March.

Dominick has fast earned himself a reputation for having great creative ability when it comes to photographing both the inside and outside of the orbital laboratory. The American astronaut also likes to share the technical aspects of his work, and welcomes feedback on how he might tackle his photographic projects differently for better results.

Recommended Videos

His latest effort, shared on social media on Sunday and embedded below, features a frame filled with numerous stars along, with sections of the ISS silhouetted against the light.

“Experimenting with time-lapses out of different windows around the ISS,” Dominick wrote in his post. “This is one of a few windows that face away from Earth in a compartment in the service module called the ПхО. ISO is cranked high and the exposure is a possibly too long (1.6 seconds) as you can see the stars starting to streak. Considering cranking ISO higher and dropping exposure for crisper stars, but I don’t want to lose nebulosity. Thoughts?”

Experimenting with time lapses out of different windows around the ISS. This is one of a few windows that face away from earth in a compartment in the service module called the ПхО. ISO is cranked high and the exposure is a possibly too long (1.6s) as you can see the stars… pic.twitter.com/MJB3hDdIH8

— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) August 4, 2024

Last month, Dominick shared a time-lapse that included an aurora, satellites, stars, and a meteor zipping across the frame. He’s also been posting some highly creative images from inside the ISS involving techniques like long exposures and multiple flashes.

A couple of weeks ago, Dominick had an online discussion with space photographer extraordinaire Don Pettit. During the chat, a recording of which is available online, the pair talked about their experiences with astrophotography in low-Earth orbit.

At 69, Pettit is currently NASA’s oldest active astronaut and is set to make his fourth trip to orbit in September. Over the course of his career, Pettit has earned a reputation for producing incredible images from space. The accomplished astronaut is set to make his fourth trip to orbit in September and we can’t wait to see the kind of images he shares once he’s settled in.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Space station meets aurora in this stunning time-lapse video
An aurora as seen from the ISS.

In his final days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronaut Don Pettit has shared a time-lapse video (below) showing the orbital outpost flying above cities at night before passing over a stunning aurora, shimmering in the darkness.  

https://x.com/astro_Pettit/status/1909841414713704577

Read more
Latest aurora seen from space is a real stunner
An aurora captured by NASA astronaut Don Pettit on the space station.

Ask any astronaut about the pleasures of spending time aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and one of the responses will surely be the incredible views that they get to enjoy from 250 miles above Earth.

The scenery can include everything from remarkable vistas of places far below, sunrises and sunsets every 90 minutes, astonishing views of thunderstorms, and, far beyond Earth, stunning scenery that includes the moon and even the Milky Way.

Read more
See the first images from NASA’s newest space observatory, SPHEREx
NASA’s SPHEREx, which will map hundreds of millions of galaxies across the entire sky, captured one of its first exposures March 27. The observatory’s six detectors each captured one of these uncalibrated images, to which visible-light colors have been added to represent infrared wavelengths. SPHEREx’s complete field of view spans the top three images; the same area of the sky is also captured in the bottom three images.

A brand new NASA space observatory, SPHEREx, has taken its first test images a few weeks after its launch on March 11, and all indications are looking good for it to take wide and gorgeous views of the sky.

“Our spacecraft has opened its eyes on the universe,” said SPHEREx project scientist Olivier Doré. “It’s performing just as it was designed to.”

Read more