See Hurricane Dorian as Only Astronauts Can in This Haunting Time-Lapse Video from Space

News
By
published

It took 350 photos to make this video.

Hurricane Dorian has left a trail of destruction and flooding across Atlantic Ocean islands and the U.S. East Coast, and a new video offers a stunning perspective on the storm that only astronauts can see. 

The amazing video, created from images taken by European Space Agency Luca Parmitano, shows Hurricane Dorian as it appeared from the International Space Station on Sept. 3, 2019. At the time, Dorian was a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, weakening slightly from a monster Category 5 days earlier.

"The mighty storm Dorian has unleashed a siege of devastation," ESA officials said in a video description. "Storm surges, wind and rain have claimed at least twenty lives and destroyed homes and infrastructure. Dorian is reported to be one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record."

Parmitano's video was assembled from 350 high-resolution photographs taken over a three-minute period at about 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT) on Sept. 3, ESA officials said. The camera was setup to continuously take images for three minutes at around 15:30 GMT. At one point, Parmitano adjusted his camera to zoom in on Dorian's massive eye.

Video: Zoom In On Hurricane Dorian from Space
Related: Watch Hurricane Dorian in Action in These Gifs by NASA and NOAA

This image is one of 350 photos of Hurricane Dorian taken by European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano on the International Space Station on Sept. 3, 2019 when the storm was a Category 3 tempest. (Image credit: European Space Agency)

"At 400 km (248 miles) above Earth, the astronauts inside the International Space Station have a unique view of our planet but dedicated Earth-monitoring satellites provide data for meteorologists," ESA officials said in the video description. 

As of 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) today, Sept. 7, Dorian is a Category 1 storm with wind speeds of about 85 mph (140 km/h). It is located about 160 miles (230 kilometers) southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts and forecast to weaken into a post-tropical storm by tonight or early Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.