The photo you're looking at above is of New York City. Hard to tell? Turn your laptop screen upside down and you'll probably be able to pick out Manhattan, Long Island, and the rest of the Tri-State area. Why's the photo so special? It wasn't taken from a plane circling JFK, nor is it a shot from a satellite. In fact, it's a photograph taken by United States Astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock, who's currently aboard the International Space Station. And yes, Wheelock Tweeted the photo via Twitpic. It's actually just one of at least 30 photos of Earth that Wheelock has taken and Tweeted out in the past few months. Wheelock accompanies each shot with a short, elegantly worded description that puts life back down here on Earth in perspective (of a shot of the Middle East: "A peaceful view of the Holy Land, without any borders"). Check out an awesome gallery of 30 more of his shots after the jump.

A Closer Look at New York City

The Isles of Greece

Approaching Hurricane Earl

Hurricane Earl, over the Atlantic Ocean

Patagonia

The Aurora Borealis

On the next page, Italy at night, the Great Barrier Reef, the Bahamas, and Egypt and the Nile...