Amazing Photos of How Clouds Cast Thousand-Mile Shadows Into Space

While on board the International Space Station, geophysicist Alexander Gerst spent a lot of time looking back down to Earth from 205 miles above.  In his tenure aboard the ISS he took loads of photographs, documenting hurricanes, floods, dust storms, and oil fields.  One of his favorite things, however, was taking pictures of how clouds cast shadows.  The results can be quite dramatic.

Dense cloud formations can create long shadows that stretch for thousands of miles across the Earth’s surface.  Since first arriving on the International Space Station in June of 2014, Gerst snapped some breathtaking shots which can still be seen via his Twitter account.