Astronaut’s photo shows a gorgeous ‘golden path’

By Trevor Mogg Published July 30, 2025

Don Pettit is NASA’s oldest serving astronaut, and even at the age of 70, he’s not done yet. He’s been to orbit four times since his first voyage back in 2002, and hopes to make it back there again in the coming years. 

The American astronaut’s most recent space trip saw him living and working aboard the International Space Station (ISS) between September 2024 and April 2025. A big part of his time aboard the orbital outpost was spent observing Earth and capturing stunning imagery of our planet and beyond.

Since returning to terra firma a few months ago, Pettit has continued to share many of the images and videos that he didn’t have a chance to post while he was in orbit. 

This latest stunner shows, in Pettit’s own words, “city lights at night, streaked by orbital speeds with time exposure,” which “create a golden path seen only from space.” We can also see a docked Soyuz spacecraft in the foreground, and a Progress cargo ship, also docked, behind it.

At night, Earth becomes speckled by the golden glow of city lights, but with the camera shutter kept open, and the space station orbiting Earth at a speed of around 17,500 mph, the lights streak across the frame to create a look that’s as unique as it is gorgeous.

During his most recent space voyage, Pettit also posted extraordinary imagery of Madagascar’s Betsiboka River estuary, aurora rippling over Earth, the Grand Canyon, and moonlight reflections. Check out this collection of some his best work.

“Images from space help tell the story to people on Earth that don’t have the opportunity to go into space,” Pettit said last year when asked why he enjoys taking photos from 250 miles up. He added that as well as capturing memories of his trips to orbit, “the photographs help complete the story of what it means for human beings to expand into space and expand into this frontier.”