
From their lofty perch on the ISS, astronauts have an unrivalled perspective on the world.

Now a new image taken from the space station reveals just how tiny the Earth – and everything in it – can appear from their point of view.

The photograph taken 250 miles (400km) above Earth, shows a single aircraft flying just above the Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas.

Scroll down for video

Can you spot it? This image taken by an astronaut on the ISS shows an aircraft passing over the Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas

The aircraft is so small that it can only be seen when zooming in, shown as a white silhouette against the blue ocean.

The plane wasn’t the target of the image. Instead, the astronaut wanted to capture the small island cays in the Bahamas and the prominent tidal channels cutting between them.

According to Nasa, this is one of the most recognisable points on the planet for astronauts on the space station.

The string of cays -stretching 8.9 miles (14.24km) in this image - extends west from Great Exuma Island.

The plane can be seen in the boxed area in this image. The astronaut originally wanted to capture the small island cays in the Bahamas and the prominent tidal channels cutting between them

The photograph taken 250 miles (400km) above Earth, shows a single aircraft flying just above the Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas. The aircraft is so small that it can only be seen when zooming in, shown as a white silhouette again the blue ocean

THE ISS IN NUMBERS Construction of the ISS began on 20 November 1998. It supports a crew of up to six, with crews typically split into groups of three. It orbits at a height of about 250 miles (400km). It has a total mass of about 990,000 pounds (450,000kg) and has living space roughly equivalent to a five-bedroom house. It completes an orbit of Earth every 92.91 minutes and moves at 17,100 miles (27,600km) per hour. It has now been in space for more than 6,000 days, during which time it has completed more than 92,500 orbits of Earth, and has been continuously occupied for more than 14 years. Advertisement

‘Exuma is known for being remote from the bigger islands of The Bahamas, and it is rich with privately owned cays and with real pirate history, including Captain Kidd,’ Nasa said.

Thanks to the astronaut's steady hands in controlling a long lens in weightlessness, this photograph is detailed enough to also show the aircraft’s twin condensation trails.

Small tidal changes on the banks cause great quantities of water to flow daily through the narrow channels between the cays, first in one direction and then the other.

The darker blue sections are the deepest parts of the channels, where the water flow has cut through the rock ridge that makes the line of cays.

The surrounding water is shallow, at less than 80ft (25 metres) and appears light blue.

The unnamed astronaut took the image using a Nikon D4 camera on July 19 when Expedition 44 crewed the station using a 1150 millimeter lens.

Back on Earth, it's the ISS that appears tiny. Earlier this year, an Australian photographer managed to capture an incredible image of the International Space Station in front of the moon.

The orbiting outpost only passed over the moon for 0.33 seconds - ensuring no room for error.

Photographer Dylan O'Donnell, who lives in Byron Bay used a Canon 70D attached to the rear cell of Celestron 9.25″ telescope.

Exuma is a district of the Bahamas, consisting of over 365 islands. The largest of the islands is Great Exuma, which is 37 miles in length and joined to another island, Little Exuma

Back on Earth, it's the ISS that appears tiny. Earlier this year, an Australian photographer managed to capture an incredible image of the International Space Station in front of the moon



