If you've ever wondered what astronauts really see when looking down on Earth, this jaw-dropping photo will give an incredible answer.
When NASA astronaut Terry W. Virts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month stay back in 2015, he brought with him a secret talent.
Virts is an exceptional photographer, and took a host of unbelievably gorgeous images over the course of his time in space - many of them looking down on Earth from the craziest of angles.
Amazingly, one of the most impressive shots didn't happen until Virts' very last full day in space - so he left it right down to the wire.
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You often hear about certain man-made monuments that 'can be seen from space', and it's hard to know whether that's true without going up there yourself, but Virts managed to grab a photo of the Great Pyramids at Giza that shows they live up to that billing, at least.
His photo shows all three main pyramids, two large and one smaller, and you can clearly see the boundary of Cairo right next to them, along with the large compound full of other ruins around the huge constructs.
You can tell from the resolution and slight blurriness that it must have involved a lot of zooming-in, and waiting for day with both clear weather and the right angle looking down at the planet.
Virts posted the image on X (which was then called Twitter) back in 2015, and as you can probably imagine, people were absolutely blown away.
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One person commented: "That's amazing. You won't find many people with a shot of them from this angle. Amazing."
Another praised Virts' persistence in trying to get his shot even on his final day: "Great example of the benefits of stick-to-it-ness. Nice work!"
Virts has taken plenty of other jaw-dropping photos, with some providing an incredible look at the sheer scale of Earth from above.
From island archipelagos to the astonishing play of light as it hits the planet's atmosphere, Virts demonstrates how none of us have really seen Earth until we've seen it from space.
Featured Image Credit: Astroterry/X
