Stunning time-lapse video from space combines 12,500 images

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst likes taking pictures.

Gerst returned to Earth in November after five and a half months aboard the International Space Station. While conducting more than 50 experiments in space, Gerst would often set cameras to automatically take pictures at regular intervals. He combined 12,500 of his images of auroras, sunrises, clouds, stars, oceans, the Milky Way, ISS and more into a mesmerizing montage, released this week by the European Space Agency.