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Light Beyond the Bulb

Earth Globe Asia


Earth Asia

Image Credit: Data-AVHRR, NDVI, Seawifs, MODIS, NCEP, DMSP and Sky2000 star catalog; AVHRR and Seawifs texture-Reto Stockli; Visualization-Marit Jentoft-Nils

As Earth spins on its axis every 24 hours, one side of the planet is illuminated by light from the Sun. This gives one-half of the planet its day, and at the same time the other half is immersed in night. While the Earth does not naturally emit any visible light, technology from humans has certainly made our planet brighter when facing away from the Sun. This image is a composite of two sets of data— one of the globe reflecting sunlight and another of the globe in full darkness, showing only the bright lights of inhabited areas.

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