Astronaut shares dazzling image of London from International Space Station

Dazzling London: the picture was taken from the International Space Station
@astro_kimbroug
Tom Powell20 March 2017

A stunning image of London dazzlingly lit up at night has been captured by an astronaut hundreds of miles away from the Earth’s surface.

NASA's Robert Shane Kimbrough snapped the capital from the International Space Station, which orbits at a height of 250 miles.

His mesmerising picture shows the pitch-black Thames snaking its way through a mass of dazzling lights with thousands of streets clearly visible.

The pure white lights of central London mellow out into a golden yellow in the surrounding boroughs, with just the main roads and speckled dots visible in the farthest reaches.

The 02 arena can be seen on the shore of the Thames in east London, while Hyde Park and Regents Park appear as large swathes of black in amongst the chaotic centre.

Mr Kimbrough shared the picture, which has been retweeted over 1,500 times, with the caption: “Good evening London from @Space_Station!”

The former US Army Colonel is currently part of the Expedition 49/50 mission along with Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko.

Since arriving at the station last September, he has posted a series of incredible images of cities and locations around the world.

These include Dublin on St Patrick’s Day, soil formations on the northern coast of Venezuela and the Palm Island in Dubai.

The astronaut's rare images have amassed him a Twitter following of almost 50,000.

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