Typhoon

Super Typhoon Maysak 'Commands Respect Even From Space' (PHOTOS)

Super Typhoon Maysak has inflicted damage in parts of Micronesia, including the remote islands of Chuuk and Yap states.

(MORE: Maysak Forecast | Latest News)

Maysak also grabbed attention of meteorologists and weather geeks not simply because it reached Category 5 equivalent intensity, but from the incredible imagery.

Three-day infrared satellite loop of Typhoon Maysak ending on April 1, 2015 at 10 a.m. EDT showing Maysak's intensification from a Category 1 to Category 5 equivalent super typhoon.

What initially triggered palpitations in the weather community were a series of tweets from International Space Station astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Tuesday after a fly over of Maysak. One image appeared as though the Earth had a belly button. Cristoforetti then tweeted several closer photos of Maysak 's eye.

"Commands respect even from #space," Cristoforetti wrote in her tweet.

Wednesday morning, fellow ISS and NASA astronaut Terry W. Virts tweeted an incredible closeup of Maysak 's eye. With much of the eyewall shadowed Virts tweeted, "It seemed like a black hole from a sci-fi movie."

Virts tweeted a couple of additional Maysak eye photos at sunrise, one an almost horizon-view resembling the drain of a bathtub, the other showing the "stadium effect", or the appearance of clouds in the eyewall resembling seating in a large stadium.

(MORE: Inside the Eye of A Hurricane | 4 Storms At Once)

Maysak rapidly intensified from a Category 2 to Category 5 equivalent super typhoon in just 24 hours Monday and Tuesday, reaching maximum estimated winds of 160 mph on March 31.