Earth photos taken by a point-and-shoot camera

Cool photo eh? Taken from a spacecraft? Perhaps the International Space Station? Nope, it was some guy with a balloon and a camera.

Space enthusiast Robert Harrison managed to send his home-made contraption 22 miles - or 116,160 feet - above the earth's surface from his back garden.

The photos taken by his device were so spectacular that Nasa has been in touch to see how he achieved it.

Mr Harrison's budget of £500 might also offer inspiration to the new UK Space Agency, which launches on April 1. Based in Swindon, with only one astronaut and a budget one 50th the size of Nasa's, it will be looking for cut-price ways to reach for the sky.

Mr Harrison first got the idea to explore space after a failed attempt to take aerial pictures of his house using a remote control helicopter.
The funny thing is that NASA spends a huge amount of money to get photos just like these, and they just got one-upped by a Canon Powershot. Whoops!