If you were an astronaut, this could be the view each day from your office window.

You can thank astronaut Ron Garan for stitching together this breathtaking seven-minute time-lapse sequence, which sums up his 6-month stay aboard the International Space Station. Garan, who writes a blog called Fragile Oasis and has taken hundreds of photos from space, returned home from the ISS on Sept. 16.

The space station travels at roughly 17,500 mph, orbiting our planet once every 90 minutes, so there’s plenty to see in the video. Viewers can delight in the incredible footage of auroras glowing in the upper atmosphere, cities lights shining at night, and brief flashes of lightning striking the Earth.

The final minute shows the planet growing larger as the astronauts make their way back to Earth, eventually parachuting safely down.

Video: Ron Garan