NASA Releases Incredibly-Detailed Photos Of Earth At Night

By Anthea Quay, 06 Dec 2012

Scientists at NASA have unveiled an unprecedented new look of planet Earth at night.

The ‘Black Marble’ series features dazzling, cloud-free images of city lights, raging wildfires and colourful auroras—that were constructed using a new NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite.

The satellite’s new sensor—the day-night band of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiomter Suite (VIIRS)—is “sensitive enough to detect the nocturnal glow produced by Earth’s atmosphere and the light from a single ship in the sea,” according to NASA.

Check out some of the shots below: