German astronaut Alexander Gerst has released a stunning six-minute timelapse showcasing 12,500 extraordinary images of Earth, including auroras, lightning, the Milky Way galaxy and other spacecrafts like the Soyuz.
Gerst captured the images over the course of six months while in Lower Earth Orbit aboard the International Space Station during what was called the Blue Dot Mission.
Along with American astronaut Reid Wiseman and Russian astronaut Maxim Suraev, Gerst returned to Earth on Nov. 10. You can find more photos on Gerst's Flickr page.