Earth and space through an astronaut's lens

How do you capture crisp, detailed astronomy photographs in microgravity whilst orbiting Earth at roughly 17,500 miles per hour? 

NASA astronaut Don Pettit has a solution: an orbital sidereal star tracker.  

This homemade tool offsets the International Space Station’s motion to photograph distant stars as fixed points, a breakthrough in orbital photography that has yielded incredible results. 

In Don’s photos the Earth is in motion, dotted with lights, while the starry sky above is still and rendered in sharp detail, sometimes featuring comets, galaxies, satellites or the core of the Milky Way. 

Since being selected by NASA in 1996, Don has spent 590 days in space. During his last mission he lived on board the ISS for seven months, returning to Earth in April 2025. Alongside his scientific duties, Don had the opportunity to do astrophotography from this rare location, taking images that push new boundaries in space photography.

While the ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition showcases Earth-bound images, one of Pettit’s photos, Earth from Orbit, is included as a special feature.

Watch the video below to learn more about the unexpected challenges of doing orbital photography and how Don overcomes them, plus scroll down to learn more about Don and explore some of his awe-inspiring images. 

Special Feature © 2025 National Aeronautics and Space Administration in all jurisdictions outside the United States. Used with Permission. Photography by Donald Pettit. All Rights Reserved.

About Don

Don Pettit (Ph.D.) was selected by NASA in 1996. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University and a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arizona. Prior to becoming an astronaut, he worked as a staff scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico.

A veteran of four spaceflights, Pettit first served as NASA science officer for Expedition 6 in 2003. Next, he served as mission specialist and operated the robotic arm for STS-126 in 2008. He returned to the International Space Station in 2012 for a long-duration mission as a flight engineer for Expedition 30/31, where he lived on board the ISS for 193 days. 

Most recently, Pettit launched to the ISS on September 11 2024, as a flight engineer on the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft. Pettit logged another seven months on board, conducting science experiments and maintaining the space station. He has lived a total of 590 days in space and has completed 13 spacewalk hours.

You can follow Don on Instagram at @astro_pettit.