Earth's atmosphere in sunrise from space

This dramatic image shows the sun rising over central Asia from space.

The photograph, released by NASA today, was taken by an Expedition 17 crewmember on the International Space Station on Tuesday.

The hyper-colour hues show the different layers of the Earth's atmosphere.

Most notable is that the image features a fantastic view of the Polar Mesospheric Clouds (also known as noctilucent clouds, which means 'night shining' in Latin). They are generally too faint to be seen, but can be visible at twilight.