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NASA Releases Stunning Image of Washington, DC, Area from Space

Image of capital region at night was taken on the International Space Station.

NASA is known for supplying some of the most engaging images of planets, asteroids, galaxies, stars and other celestial bodies.

Now, Canada’s space agency is enthralling us with images of our planet.

Chris Hadfield, who later this month is to become the first Canadian to take command of the International Space Station, released a stunning image Feb. 25 via Twitter of the Washington area from a height of 230 miles. 

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In the image, you can clearly make out the convergence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, as well as some details of the infamous street layout of the city.

The image is among the latest in a series of Earth-focused images from space.

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In November, 2012, NASA released a book, “Earth as Art,” a series of 75 images that feature dazzling colors, shapes and textures of the earth taken from satellites. The images feature colors manipulated by NASA to portray light outside of the range visible to humans. The images are available via an iPad app and in a PDF format (which you can find in the photos section of this article.)

Corrections: An earlier version of this article misspelled astronaut Chris Hadfield's name, misidentified his role at the International Space Station and misattributed the Twitter photo to NASA. Hadfield is with the Canadian Space Agency.

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