Astronaut captures NZ from space

Astronaut Luca Parmitano captured this picture of New Zealand from on board the International Space Station.

An Italian astronaut aboard the International Space Station has captured glimpses of New Zealand in images posted on social media this week.

European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and fellow ISS resident Karen Nyberg, of NASA have continued the recent trend of astronauts engaging in social media from space, with both active on Twitter and Facebook.

This week Parmitano tweeted two images of New Zealand - one showing snow-capped South Island mountains breaking through cloud:

Snow covers the mountains of New Zealand, peeking among the clouds #NZ #Volare pic.twitter.com/ufo2pTEhAf

And another showing central and eastern parts of the North Island:

On a crisp, sunny winter morning New Zealand is just waking up #NZ pic.twitter.com/ILiu6nKd40

Parmitano and Nyberg have also captured stunning images of Australia this week:

#Brisbane, Australia pic.twitter.com/usXCkXxxgU

Arriving in #Queensland, we're welcomed by a riveting, colorful nature #Australia pic.twitter.com/Nw4HXxRkJc

Van Diemen Gulf, Australia. August 5. pic.twitter.com/DzEd4Ofxux

The Great Barrier Reef is so extensive you can't frame it in a single image even from space #Australia #QLD pic.twitter.com/Ye4OzRSQdZ

Nyberg also posted a breath-taking image of a cloud formation in the South Pacific this week:

From southernmost point of orbit over the South Pacific- all clouds seemed to be leading to the South Pole. Aug 3. pic.twitter.com/mJH4S5Edc4

Previous ISS occupants Chris Hadfield of Canada and NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn also took scores of photos of Earth from the space station, including more than 50 of New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific which we illustrated on an interactive map here.

Parmitano and Nyberg are members of Expedition 36 aboard the space station. The pair arrived on the ISS with Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin in late May and will return in November.

Follow Parmitano on Twitter here and Facebook here.
Follow Nyberg on Twitter here and Facebook here.

- nzherald.co.nz