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Explanation: This is what the Earth looks like at night. Can you find your favorite 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.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Earth - night sky
Publications with words: Earth - night sky
See also:
- APOD: 2025 April 23 B An Almost Everything Sky
- APOD: 2024 December 29 B Methane Bubbles Frozen in Lake Baikal
- Interplanetary Earth
- Earthset from Orion
- APOD: 2024 September 11 B A Night Sky over the Tatra Mountains
- Manicouagan Impact Crater from Space
- APOD: 2023 August 15 B A Triply Glowing Night Sky over Iceland