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Working in space-bound isolation can probably get a little lonely, crewmates excepted, but we imagine the view must make up for it a bit.

WATCH: Wicked lightning shot from the ISS


Daniel Martins
Digital Reporter

Tuesday, February 9, 2016, 12:30 PM - Working in space-bound isolation can probably get a little lonely, crewmates excepted, but we imagine the view must make up for it a bit.

This week's dose of eye-popping space candy comes to us from Tim Peake, a U.K. astronaut aboard the International Space Station. Peake posted a time lapse of lightning from space on his Facebook page Tuesday.

It's a mesmerizing journey. Beginning in the dark Sahara of North Africa, the station pans over Egypt, distinct with its glittering Nile, over the Mediterranean. A few brief flashes north of Egypt and Libya catch the eye before we get to the main show: A line of violent thunderstorms stretching from Cyprus north to Turkey.

Amazing how much lightning can strike our planet in a short timeFlying from North Africa over Turkey towards Russia in this timelapse.

Posted by Tim Peake on Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Then, just like that, we're past it, flying over Turkey and the Caucasus into southern Russia.

Those storms were obviously very powerful, and the line that produced them would have made life difficult for any sea traffic that happened to be in the area, but from around 400 km above the Earth's surface, it looks very different.

The astronauts and cosmonauts a board the station orbit the Earth about once every hour and a half, giving them plenty of time to take in the Earth's weather as it constantly changes. Not to mention the occasional glimpse of an aurora:

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