Black Marble: Amazing Earth at Night Photos from Space

Auroras over North America

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.

Gas Flares in Bahía de Campeche

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.

Night View of Hurricane Isaac

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.

Mount Tongariro Erupts

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.

Night View of Fires in Siberia

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

Night View of Fires in Siberia on Aug. 3, 2012

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.

City Lights, 2003

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.

Earth's City Lights 1994

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).

Night Lights 2012 - Flat Map

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.

Earth at Night 2012 - Americas

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.