Astronaut Chris Hadfield's amazing photos from space
The guitar-strumming spaceman Chris Hadfield is releasing a new book – You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes – featuring stunning images of the Earth captured while in orbit. Here are some of his best snaps
• Find out what tastes better, space food or plane food, in our Q&A with Chris Hadfield
Chris Hadfield will be discussing his his time in space at a Guardian Live event on 7 and 11 December . Find out more about Guardian Live and how to become a member
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‘On a clear day you can see forever,’ says Hadfield. ‘Or at least from Havana to Washington DC …’ All photographs: Chris Hadfield/Macmillan
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On the right is Detroit, Michigan, and to the left Windsor, Ontario: ‘Two countries, one river,’ says Hadfield
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A view of the jagged edge of the Himalayas, the snowy peaks in stark contrast to the deep green of the foothills
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The Nile, draining into the Mediterranean. ‘The bright lights of Cairo announce the opening of the north-flowing river’s delta,’ says Hadfield. ‘Israel is to the north-east. This 4,258 mile braid of human life is visible in a single glance from space.’
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‘The Richat Structure in Mauritania, also known as the Eye of the Sahara, is a landmark for astronauts,’ says Hadfield. ‘If you’ve been busy doing experiments and haven’t looked out the window for a while, it’s hard to know where you are, especially if you’re over a vast 3,600,000-square-mile desert. This bullseye orients you, instantly’
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Venice is the island in the centre of this photo, suspended within the lagoon
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‘Much of the densely built-up waterfront around San Francisco sits on landfill, often a blend of rubble and sediment dragged up from the bay,’ says Hadfield. ‘In a major earthquake, landfill is more prone to liquefaction than bedrock: it behaves like a liquid, shaking far more severely, and is more likely to give way altogether’
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This photograph captures the area around the town of Pereira Barreto in Brazil, about 400 miles north-west of São Paolo. ‘In the 1990s the Rio Tietê was dammed to create a hydroelectric power plant,’ says Hadfield. ‘Flooding and permanently submerging many farms. Today, from this angle, the body of water looks like a millipede’
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