33 photos of the amazing planet Earth from space

Imagine, but these photos were not taken at all with an expensive satellite or telescope, but with a regular Nikon camera. It turns out that the Dutch astronaut and physicist Andre Kuipers, who conducted research on the International Space Station, is a real interstellar photographer. All photos except the last one are his work. Some of them don't even look real.

Richat structure in Mauritania. (flickr.com)

Paris at night. (flickr.com)

From space, I wish you all a good and colorful year. (flickr.com)

Channels in the Somali desert. (flickr.com)

Over the Tibetan Plateau with the Himalayas, the Kingdom of Bhutan and Nepal in the background. (flickr.com)

Denmark and Copenhagen, Norway and Oslo, Sweden and Stockholm, northern Germany and beyond. And, of course, the northern lights. (flickr.com)

Beautiful reflection of the Sun in the river of Brazil. (flickr.com)

Planes 242 miles down on their way to America. (flickr.com)

Aurora Borealis between Antarctica and Australia. (flickr.com)

Desert footprints for hundreds of kilometers along the Atlantic Ocean. (flickr.com)

Ice spirals near Kamchatka, Russia. (flickr.com)

At sunrise and sunset, you can see different layers of the atmosphere. (flickr.com)

Strong wind blows white sand. (flickr.com)

The sun is reflected in the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas. Corsica, Sardinia and Italy. (flickr.com)

Sand drawing of the Sahara. (flickr.com)

Snowy Canada. River or centipede? (flickr.com)

Waves of the Indian Ocean. I wonder if they are above or below the surface of the water, and how big they are. (flickr.com)

Lake Powell and the Colorado River. The coolest place is green warm water, white and red rocks, blue sky. And no one around. (flickr.com)

meteorite crater in Canada. (flickr.com)

The Alps are very seductive, but I didn't bring my skis with me... (flickr.com)

The moon looks the same from both the ISS and the Earth. Only its sunrise and sunset we see constantly. (flickr.com)

A year ago I saw it from an airplane and decided that I had to see it from space. Here it is, Salt Lake City. (flickr.com)

Sand drawing of the Sahara. (flickr.com)

Earth at night. (flickr.com)

According to ISS Commander Daniel Burbank, the photographer has an eye full of beautiful cloud formations. (flickr.com)

Airplanes are drawn in the sky. (flickr.com)

As we see the Moon - clearly and slowly moving towards or away from the horizon. (flickr.com)

The Pacific Ocean is a huge source of beautiful photographs. One of the Gilbert Islands. (flickr.com)

Africa meets Europe - the Strait of Gibraltar. (flickr.com)

Foam clouds. (flickr.com)

During the experiment, I had to wait 10 minutes, so I looked out the window. And I saw the active volcano Etna! (flickr.com)

Australia is a stunning continent with beautiful formations. (flickr.com)

Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) photographed by ISS Commander Dan Burbank, one of the first people to see it on launch day.