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An astronaut, Don Pettit, has put together a 10-minute movie of what cities look like at night as seen from space. He shot these images while he was Science Officer aboard ISS Expedition 6 about 5 years ago. He recently posted this on YouTube.This video "Cities at Night; an Orbital Tour Around the World" is a video made from digital still images.A bit of trivia.... most of the music during the movie is from royalty-free clips from Adobe Auditions, but for the Australian sequences, Don played his own didgeridoo that he had with him in space aboard ISS. As you...

A new window to the universe has opened with today's release of the first dazzling images from NASA's newly named Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility. The first observations, of a glowing stellar nursery; a swirling, dusty galaxy; a disc of planet-forming debris; and organic material in the distant universe, demonstrate the power of the telescope's infrared detectors to capture cosmic features never before seen. The Spitzer Space Telescope was also officially named today after the late Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr. He was one of the 20th century's most influential scientists, and in the mid-1940s,...

Astronomy Picture of the Day 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. 2002 September 25 Jupiter, Moons and Bees Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman Explanation: Rising before the Sun on September 4, Jupiter and an old crescent Moon gathered in the dim constellation of Cancer. Watching from a hillside near Austin, Texas, planet Earth, astrophotographer Russell Croman recorded this view of their passing as clouds gracefully dimmed the brilliant moonlight. Earthshine illuminates the lunar night side and on close inspection,...

Astronomy Picture of the Day 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. 2002 March 10 A Southern Sky View Credit amp; Copyright: Gordon Garradd Explanation: On 1996 March 22, a Galaxy and a comet shared the southern sky. They were captured together, from horizon to horizon, in the night sky above Loomberah, New South Wales, Australia by astronomer Gordon Garradd. Garradd used a home made all-sky camera with a fisheye lens, resulting in a circular 200 degree field of view....