<p>Like a page torn from <em>The Little Prince,</em> the French island of Réunion becomes a small planet amid a starry sky in a composite picture taken last week by astrophotographer Luc Perrot.</p><p>The picture is what's called a stereographic projection, a form of digital processing that shows a 360-degree spherical panorama as a flat image. This view stitches together several long-exposure shots of the night sky—including the arc of the <a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/12/milky-way/croswell-text">Milky Way</a>—as seen from the tiny volcanic island, east of <a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/madagascar-guide/">Madagascar</a>.</p>
Island Among Stars
Like a page torn from The Little Prince, the French island of Réunion becomes a small planet amid a starry sky in a composite picture taken last week by astrophotographer Luc Perrot.
The picture is what's called a stereographic projection, a form of digital processing that shows a 360-degree spherical panorama as a flat image. This view stitches together several long-exposure shots of the night sky—including the arc of the Milky Way—as seen from the tiny volcanic island, east of Madagascar.
Space Pictures This Week: "Runaway" Star, Shuttle Flyby
A French island becomes a world awash in stars, Discovery streaks over Earth for the last time, and more in the week's best space pictures.
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