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Astronomy Picture of the Day 8-10-02
NASA ^ | 8-10-02 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

Posted on 08/09/2002 10:25:10 PM PDT by petuniasevan

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 August 10
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
 the highest resolution version available.

Earth at Night
Credit: C. Mayhew & R. Simmon (NASA/GSFC), NOAA/ NGDC, DMSP Digital Archive

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 become an email-attachment phenomenon! It has also generated many print requests. Unfortunately, we do not sell prints. However, a high-resolution digital version of the image is available (click here or here).


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: earth; image; lights; map; night; photography; satellite; space
POSTERS! Hurricanes, tropical storms, nighttime lights of the USA.

Get on the APOD PING list!

1 posted on 08/09/2002 10:25:10 PM PDT by petuniasevan
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To: MozartLover; Joan912; NovemberCharlie; snowfox; Dawgsquat; viligantcitizen; theDentist; grlfrnd; ...
APOD PING!
2 posted on 08/09/2002 10:26:19 PM PDT by petuniasevan
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Click on the image for the humongous version!
Slow loading is worth the wait!
3 posted on 08/09/2002 10:31:44 PM PDT by petuniasevan
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To: petuniasevan
Some of the brightest lights are oilfields. There are several in the Middle East. In Alaska there sit Fairbanks and Anchorage blindingly bright, but there are also Prudhoe Bay and Kenai, just as bright.
4 posted on 08/09/2002 10:37:37 PM PDT by RightWhale
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To: petuniasevan
Worth the wait and THEN some! See you when you get back P7!
5 posted on 08/09/2002 11:16:49 PM PDT by sleavelessinseattle
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To: petuniasevan
My MOST USED and LOVED URL on my school computer. I just love showing that pic to my students ... they ooooooooooo and ahhhhhhhhhhh. Awestruck! Way cool! &;-)
6 posted on 08/10/2002 4:39:46 AM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: petuniasevan

7 posted on 08/10/2002 6:25:22 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
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To: petuniasevan
Awsome!
8 posted on 08/10/2002 7:20:38 PM PDT by BossyRoofer
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To: petuniasevan
Look at the difference between the western and easter US. This is why we have different opinions on land use.
9 posted on 08/10/2002 9:09:36 PM PDT by farmfriend
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