Hawaii wildfires photographed from the International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) provides Earth with a unique birds-eye view of the planet from its vantage point of 250 miles above Earth's surface.

4

This vantage point comes in handy for tracking weather patterns, natural disasters, and other events taking place on the planet's surface. On August 12, the ISS flew over Hawaii and pointed its cameras at the Hawaiian island Maui, which is currently being engulfed in wildfires.

The floating laboratory was able to capture images of the smoke caused by the wildfires, illustrating the sheer size and impact they have had on the island and its residents.

4

Hawaii's coastal town Lahaina captured by Sentinel-2

The above image was captured when the ISS was 259 miles above the Pacific Ocean, and the ISS isn't the only spaceborne device that's capturing the tragedy as NASA's Landsat 8 satellite and Europe's Sentinel-2 Earth-observing spacecraft both flew over Hawaii on August 8.

4

Lahaina

The images captured from the two aforementioned satellites showcased the horrific devastation of the wildfires, which Space.com reports is now the deadliest in the state's history, with more than 100 people confirmed dead.

• Read more: Scientists extract Pink Floyd song from a human brain and you can listen to it
• Read more: Harvard professor says godlike aliens could be creating baby universes in laboratories
• Read more: SpaceX liquidates its $373 million Bitcoin position amid chronic crypto market crash
• Read more: AI has produced more images in 1 year than cameras have over 150 years
• Read more: Jack Dorsey hangs up his Instagram boots, 'don't know why it took me so long'