Astronaut Snaps Stunning View of Venus Over an Earth Sunrise

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An astronaut photographed the planet Venus from the space station.

A view of Venus from ISS during sunrise.
A view of Venus from ISS during sunrise. (Image credit: NASA)

A photo of Earth at sunrise shows Venus, our closest neighboring planet, shining in the distance above Earth's shimmering blue horizon.  

The image was captured by NASA astronaut Christina Koch from aboard the International Space Station (ISS).  

Venus is the second planet from the sun, and it shines brighter than any other planet in the night sky. The blue hue seen in the picture is sunlight refracting in our planet's atmosphere. 

Related: Earth from Space: Classic NASA Photos (Gallery)

A separate time-lapse video posted by NASA on June 3 shows an aerial view of Earth during a sunset as seen from the ISS. Since the station orbits around our planet every 90 minutes, the astronauts on board get to take in this view of the sunset 16 times a day, according to NASA.

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Passant Rabie
Passant Rabie
Former Contributing Writer

Passant Rabie is an award-winning journalist from Cairo, Egypt. Rabie moved to New York to pursue a master's degree in science journalism at New York University. She developed a strong passion for all things space, and guiding readers through the mysteries of the local universe. Rabie covers ongoing missions to distant planets and beyond, and breaks down recent discoveries in the world of astrophysics and the latest in ongoing space news. Prior to moving to New York, she spent years writing for independent media outlets across the Middle East and aims to produce accurate coverage of science stories within a regional context.