Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation:
This is what the
Earth
looks like at night.
Can you find your favourite
country or
city?
Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible.
Human-made
lights highlight particularly developed or
populated areas of the Earth's surface,
including the seaboards of Europe, the eastern
United States, and
Japan.
Many large cities are located near rivers or
oceans so that they can exchange goods cheaply by boat.
Particularly
dark areas include the central parts of South America,
Africa,
Asia, and Australia.
The above image is actually a composite of
hundreds of pictures made by the orbiting
DMSP satellites.
(Editor's note: This image has generated many print requests. Unfortunately, we do not sell prints. However, a high-resolution digital version of the image is available
here.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and
Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific rights apply.
A service of:
EUD at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.