Flying Over the Earth at Night

Occasionally, CRS likes to bring its subscribers and followers something a little different.  And this is one of those occasions.  Many wonders are visible when flying over the Earth at night. A compilation of such visual spectacles was captured recently from the International Space Station (ISS) and set to rousing music.

What you’ll enjoy here, passing below the ISS are white clouds, orange city lights, lightning flashes in thunderstorms, and dark blue oceans.  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 ISS flies right through the red and purple peaks.

The huge solar panels of the ISS are seen around the frame edges. The wave of approaching brightness at the end of each sequence is the dawn of the sunlit half of Earth.  This occurs every 90 minutes, as the space station circuits the earth sixteen (16) times each 24 hours.

See the film at http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120305.html