Spectacular near space image taken by high school students with a balloon

High school students in Winnipeg, Canada used a high-altitude balloon to capture a remarkable image depicting a spectacular view of the Earth from near space. Near space is the region of Earth's atmosphere that lies between 20 and 100 km above sea level, covering the stratosphere, mesosphere, and the lower thermosphere.

The enlarged photo was uploaded to Reddit by a student involved in the project, days after the school put up tiny images of what all the cameras on board the balloon had clicked. The students had placed two high-definition Mobius action cameras on board the balloon that managed to reach a maximum altitude of 30km in the sky.

The balloon was filled with helium, which could be remotely adjusted to change its height. The payload on board the balloon was made of Styrofoam filled with an Arduino microcontroller, sensors, and the two Mobius cameras.

The main image depicts an azure blue sky with bright white clouds floating around like little balls of cotton. The edge of the Earth can be seen glowing with semi-azure shades while a hazy depiction of landmass can be seen below the clouds. Since the images were clicked using a fish-eye lens, the curvature of the Earth is depicted with a "bulge."

The high school also posted the image of the balloon that carried the payload along with some more images of landmasses and water bodies from high up in the sky. The areas depicted have been covered over 100 miles across Manitoba, a region in Canada.