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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Flying Over the Earth at Night
NASA ^ | 8 Dec, 2025 | Video Credit: Gateway to Astronaut Photography, NASA ; Compilation: David Peterson (YouTube); Music:

Posted on 12/08/2025 1:35:23 PM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: Many wonders are visible when flying over the Earth at night. Such visual spectacles occur every day for astronauts in low Earth orbit, but the featured video captured several from the International Space Station (ISS) in 2011 and set them to rousing music. Passing below are white clouds, orange city lights, lightning flashes in thunderstorms, and dark blue seas. On the horizon is the golden haze of Earth's thin atmosphere, frequently decorated by dancing auroras as the video progresses. The green parts of auroras typically remain below the space station, but the station flies right through the red and purple auroral peaks. Solar panels of the ISS are seen around the frame edges. The ominous wave of approaching brightness at the end of each sequence is just the dawn of the sunlit half of Earth, a dawn that occurs every 90 minutes.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
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Today's image is a video at the source link.

1 posted on 12/08/2025 1:35:23 PM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

Today's image is a video at the source link.

2 posted on 12/08/2025 1:35:50 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

I noticed there are some places that don’t have lights. Interesting, thanks.


3 posted on 12/08/2025 3:03:41 PM PST by kawhill (And the sea will bring each man new hope as sleep brings dreams of home. C.C.)
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To: MtnClimber

Imagine how the world would react were we to come across a planet that looked like ours.
I watched that video with that in mind and it gave me a new appreciation of what we have.
The heavens declare the glory of God.


4 posted on 12/08/2025 3:20:19 PM PST by mitch5501 ("make your calling and election sure:for if ye do these things ye shall never fall")
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To: MtnClimber

You can literally see the waves of the Aurora Australis coming up over the horizon as the ISS approaches. I wonder how the flat-earthers explain this.


5 posted on 12/08/2025 4:06:05 PM PST by eastexsteve
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