# picture of the worlds lights **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 13, 2000, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306 "2000-12-13T04:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dewt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@dewt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dewt)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/1 "2000-12-13T04:23:15Z")
Zaphod just sent me this link. He took it from his spaceship, just before leaving for his home system. [![](https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg) ](https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg) neat, eh? ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/2 "2000-12-13T04:32:25Z")
Thanks for the new wallpaper! ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/3 "2000-12-13T04:38:42Z")
Ooooh! Pretty! I like it! I’m pretty ignorant about making wallpaper, though. Could someone help me out with that? That pic _would_ make awesome wallpaper! ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/4 "2000-12-13T04:43:22Z")
When the image loads in your browser, just right click and select “Set as Wallpaper” I save files in a picture file too. Sorry, can’t help you if you’re typing on a fruit. ---
**Author:** ![Simetra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Simetra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simetra)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/5 "2000-12-13T04:44:31Z")
Very nice pic. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Extant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Extant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Extant)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/6 "2000-12-13T04:51:46Z")
Funny, I just downloaded a very similar one from that site. I didn’t save the link, but it was a composite of night lights and day image, showing mountains and deserts, etc, so you could see the relationship of urban areas to natural boundries. ---
**Author:** ![Lost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/22d042/32.png) [@Lost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lost)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/7 "2000-12-13T04:54:53Z")
That is just awesome! Thank you for posting the link! ---
**Author:** ![dewt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@dewt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dewt)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/8 "2000-12-13T04:54:59Z")
**Extant** , feel free to post any links. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/9 "2000-12-13T08:13:14Z")
Too cool, dewt…Thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/10 "2000-12-13T11:57:57Z")
Nice, it’s my new work wallpaper! I like how the utter west of the Netherlands is completely lit up: this is because there’s a huge greenhouse industry there that uses night lighting to make the plants etc. grow faster. Clearly visible. Why is the Nile completely ablaze, BTW?? ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/11 "2000-12-13T12:56:18Z")
I already have this picture — it was posted on a blog that I read. I recently got the Encarta interactive World Atlas, and it rocks enormously. It has Earth by night as one of its map types. The Nile really is incredibly bright, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/12 "2000-12-13T13:13:38Z")
MikeG, after I peeled the banana I type on, I was able to save the picture as wallpaper. Thanks! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tygr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@Tygr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tygr)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/13 "2000-12-13T20:07:51Z")
Humble plug: I recently downloaded a shareware Photoshop plug-in that creates planet-from-space views. Generates continents, features, cloud formations, AND it has an option to put lighted cities in the shadowed side of any planet you render. ‘f anybody’s interested in seeing samples lemme kno’. ---
**Author:** ![andyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@andyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andyman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/14 "2000-12-14T05:16:23Z")
I have a very similar picture hanging up in my apartment, it’s about 3’ by 2’, but it doesn’t got into near the detail as this one. It’s called “The Brilliant Earth, A Nocturnal Satellite Map.” Has anyone seen this version in printed form? ---
**Author:** ![Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siddhartha_Vicious)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/15 "2000-12-14T05:26:18Z")
Hey, I can see my house. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/16 "2000-12-14T08:07:50Z")
I find it highly improbably that Zaphod could get the Heart of Gold to be still that long…oh, wait, improbable…never mind… ---
**Author:** ![Ayesha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Ayesha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ayesha)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/17 "2000-12-14T08:33:52Z")
Too cool, thanks dewt. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/18 "2000-12-14T11:36:30Z")
WOW! It’s beautiful! Europe and Asia look sort of like a dragon, if you squint. StG ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/19 "2000-12-14T12:14:29Z")
Amazing. **Coldfire** , if you’ll notice, the Nile is only brightly lit down to the Egyptian border. Egypt has a growing problem with population pressure, and there aren’t that many places in the country suitable for large numbers of people to live. The Nile Valley is the most obvious place, so it’s crowded. Some other thoughts: In some dark places (Siberia for instance), there are groups of light spots that form or nearly form relatively straight lines. The lines are too straight to reflect a natural feature like a river; I assume we’re looking at major railways or highways, and the towns that have grown up along them in what is otherwise wilderness. So we may actually “see” the trans-Siberian railway! Look at the Korean peninsula. You can see the border between North and South! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/20 "2000-12-14T19:47:57Z")
I wonder if there’s some way to tell when the picture was taken? Does anyone see any evidence of teh slash & burn of the rainforest? StG [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306.md?page=2)