When orbiting hundreds of kilometres above the earth, familiar landscapes take on a haunting appearance.
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet has described the moment he captured New Zealand's Taranaki volcano from aboard the International Space Station, according to the Daily Mail.
Mt Taranaki, which is well overdue to blow its top, looms large over New Zealand's Egmont National Park. Photo / ESA/NASA
The 2500-metre-high volcano, which looms large over EgmontNational Park, appears small and otherworldly from the lofty heights.
"The Taranaki volcano in New Zealand is a perfect circle emerging from the green forest," the 38-year-old wrote to his 1.2 million Facebook followers.
"They say it looks like Mount Fuji in Japan, I hope to capture Mount Fuji, too, one day."
The image has made a splash on social media, with 42,000 likes and thousands of comments.
A few hours after sharing the photo, Pesquet posted on Twitter that Mt Taranaki reminded him of the song Imagine by the American rock band A Perfect Circle.
Mt Taranaki, which is well overdue to blow its top, was one of the first landmarks to be tweeted from space after it was shared by Nasa astronaut Thomas Marshburn in 2013.
