By | March 30 2012 3:18 PM

Aboard the International Space Station, Dutch astronaut André Kuipers has taken some amazingly detailed photos of the Earth using a handheld Nikon D2Xs digital SLR camera.

The amatuer photographer captures some beautiful shots of our planet, and has an eye for interesting patterns that can only be seen from afar.
Take a look at some of his shots. You can also see more on his Flickr photostream.

Sand Traces

Photo: Flickr/ESA/NASA

Traces of sand from the Sahara desert in the Atlantic Ocean.

Comet

Photo: Flickr/ESA/NASA

Comet Lovejoy shoots across the horizon.

White Sands

Photo: Flickr/ESA/NASA

White Sands desert in New Mexico.

Crater

Photo: Flickr/ESA/NASA

A meteor crater in Canada.

Brazil

Photo: Flickr/ESA/NASA

The sun reflects off a river in Brazil.

Mt. Etna

Photo: Flickr/ESA/NASA

Mt.Etna is an active volcano in Sicily.

Southern Lights

Photo: Flickr/ESA/NASA

The Southern Lights between Antarctica and Australia.