Black Marble: Amazing Earth at Night Photos from Space

Joshua Stevens, a data visualization expert at NASA’s Earth Observatory, used data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite to create full-hemisphere views of Earth by night.

Scientists can use these nighttime views to study how patterns of human settlement have changed over time.

This composite shows what the entire planet looks like by night. Of course, it’s always daytime somewhere, so NASA had to stitch together nighttime images from around the globe to create this view.

This composite image of Europe at night was taken by the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite in 2016.

This composite image of India at night was taken by the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite in 2016.

This composite image of the Nile River and surrounding region at night was taken by the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite in 2016.

This composite image of the U.S. at night was taken by the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite in 2016.

The Tri-State area (including New York City) glows in this nighttime compostie view taken by the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite in 2016.

Lake Michigan looks exceptionally dark beside the glowing city lights of Chicago, Illinois. This view was created by the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite in 2016.

This image of North and South America at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012. The data was mapped over existing Blue Marble imagery of Earth to provide a realistic view of the planet.

This new image of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012. The new data was mapped over existing Blue Marble imagery of Earth to provide a realistic view of the planet.

This image of Asia and Australia at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012. The new data was mapped over existing Blue Marble imagery of Earth to provide a realistic view of the planet.

The image, taken April 18, 2012, was made possible by the new satellite’s “day-night band” of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe dim signals such as city lights, gas flares, auroras, wildfires, and reflected moonlight.

As of July 2012, South Korea’s population was estimated at roughly 49 million people, and North Korea’s population was estimated at about half that number. But where South Korea is gleaming with city lights, North Korea has hardly any lights at all—just a faint glimmer around Pyongyang. This image was acquired Sept. 24, 2012.

On Oct.13, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of the Nile River Valley and Delta.

On Sept. 24, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of the Korean Peninsula.

This image of part of the Atlantic coast of South America was acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite on the night of July 20, 2012.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of the Persian Gulf region on Sept. 30, 2012.

The Suomi NPP satellite captured these nighttime views of the Persian Gulf region on Oct. 5, 2012. As the amount of moonlight decreases, some land surface features become harder to detect, but the lights from cities and ships become more obvious.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of the Persian Gulf region on Oct. 10, 2012.

amount of moonlight decreases, some land surface features become harder to detect, but the lights from cities and ships become more obvious.

On Sept. 27, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of low-lying marine layer clouds along the coast of California.

An irregularly-shaped patch of high clouds hovered off the coast of California, and moonlight caused the high clouds to cast distinct shadows on the marine layer clouds below. This image was acquired Sept. 27, 2012.

In April 2012, waves in Earth’s “airglow” spread across the nighttime skies of northern Texas like ripples in a pond. In this case, the waves were provoked by a massive thunderstorm.

On April 15, 2012, waves in Earth’s “airglow” spread across the nighttime skies of northern Texas. Airglow is a layer of nighttime light emissions caused by chemical reactions high in Earth’s atmosphere. A variety of reactions involving oxygen, sodium, ozone and nitrogen result in the production of a very faint amount of light.

Northwestern North Dakota is one of the least-densely populated parts of the United States. Cities and people are scarce, but satellite imagery shows the area has been aglow at night in recent years. This image was taken Nov. 12, 2012.

Scientists watched the Arctic with particular interest in the summer of 2012, when Arctic sea ice set a new record low. VIIRS acquired this nighttime view of sea ice north of Russia and Alaska on October 30, 2012.

On Aug. 29, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of wildfires burning in Idaho and Montana.

On Aug. 29, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of wildfires burning in Idaho and Montana. Numerous hot spots from the Mustang Complex Fire are visible in northern Idaho.

On July 15, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of the aurora australis, or “southern lights,” over Antartica’s Queen Maud Land and the Princess Ragnhild Coast.

On Nov. 12, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured the top image of city, village, and highway lights near Delhi, India.

This new global view and animation of Earth’s city lights is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite. The data was acquired over nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012.

The image above shows London and the southern half of Great Britain as it appeared on the night of March 27, 2012.

On Nov. 12, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of southern Asia.

New Jersey, New York, and eastern Pennsylvania as viewed at night by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite. This image was taken on Aug. 31, 2012.

This image shows New Jersey, New York, and eastern Pennsylvania as viewed at night on Nov. 1, 2012.

This image was taken before the power outages in the clear skies over Washington, DC and Baltimore that occurred as a result of a rare, fast-moving thunderstorm system on Friday, June 29th. The image was acquired June 28, 2012.

Extensive power outages in Washington, DC and Baltimore are visible in this image. Clouds obscure the lights of Philadelphia and other areas north and east of Baltimore. This image as acquired on June 30, 2012.

This image of Hurricane Sandy was acquired by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite at 2:42 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (06:42 Universal Time) on Oct. 28, 2012.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite acquired this image of the storm around 3:35 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (7:35 Universal Time) on Oct. 30, 2012.

Overnight on October 4-5, 2012, a mass of energetic particles from the atmosphere of the Sun were flung out into space, a phenomenon known as a coronal mass ejection. This image was acquired on Oct. 8, 2012.

This image shows the vast reservoirs of oil and gas under the Bahía de Campeche, located along the southern margin of the Gulf of Mexico, just west of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. It was acquired on July 26, 2012.

Early on Aug. 29, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi-NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of Hurricane Isaac and the cities near the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Late on Aug. 6, 2012, New Zealand’s Mount Tongariro erupted for the first time in 115 years, spewing a cloud of ash over North Island, closing roads, and cancelling domestic flights.

On Aug. 3, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on Suomi-NPP acquired the top image of wildfires blazing in eastern Siberia.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite, acquired a view of wildfires blazing in eastern Siberia on Aug. 3, 2012.

This image shows Earth’s human-generated nighttime lights for the calendar year 2003, based on observations by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Line Scanner.

This image of Earth’s city lights was created with data acquired Oct. 1, 1994 – March 31, 1995 from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS).

This new image of the Earth at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite over nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012.

This image of the Western half and Midwest in the Americas by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite over nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012.

This image of the Americas and Atlantic Ocean by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite over nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012.

This image of Europe and Asia by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite over nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012.

This image of Japan and the Korean Peninsula by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite over nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012.

This image of Africa by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite over nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012.

This image of Australia by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite over nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012.