Hurricane Irene is strengthening and preparing to make a run up the side of the east coast before likely making landfall but a striking view of the massive storm has already been captured from space.

NASA astronaut Ron Garan photographed the Category 2 hurricane on Monday while looking down on Earth from the International Space Station.

Garan currently lives at the space station with five other astronauts.

Hurricane #Irene #FromSpace as it passed through the Caribbean yesterday (8/22/11) @ 7:34pm GMT, Garan wrote in a Twitter post.

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