Starship Asterisk*

Flying over the Earth at Night II

Explanation: What would it be like to orbit the Earth? The International Space Station (ISS) does this every 90 minutes, and sometimes the astronauts on board take image sequences that are made into videos. The featured time-lapse video shows many visual spectacles of the dark Earth below. First, as the video begins, green and red auroras are visible on the upper left above white clouds. Soon city lights come into view, and it becomes clear you are flying over North America, eventually passing over Florida. In the second sequence you fly over Europe and Africa, eventually passing over the Nile River. Brief flashes of light are lightning in storms. Stars far in the distance can be seen rising through the greenish-gold glow of the Earth's atmosphere.

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I'm curious about the brightness of city lights in this time lapse video. From ISS to the unaided eye would the city lights appear close to the brightness shown or is the brightness enhanced by the camera?

I'm curious about the brightness of city lights in this time lapse video. From ISS to the unaided eye would the city lights appear close to the brightness shown or is the brightness enhanced by the camera?

Pilgrim44 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:51 pm I'm curious about the brightness of city lights in this time lapse video. From ISS to the unaided eye would the city lights appear close to the brightness shown or is the brightness enhanced by the camera?

The camera at the exposure used is more sensitive than the eye. This makes the city lights, auroras, and other features appear brighter and more colorful than they would to the eye alone, although not by a huge factor.

Why is the Nile itself lit up?

Robin Kaminski wrote: ↑Sat May 05, 2018 4:03 pm Why is the Nile itself lit up?

Well, aside from the obvious answer that modern humans live there, here is a link to some photos of all the riverfront development. https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=nile%20at%20night

Robin Kaminski wrote: ↑Sat May 05, 2018 4:03 pm Why is the Nile itself lit up?

It's not. Just the riverbanks are lit up. ;-)

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat May 05, 2018 4:16 pm

Robin Kaminski wrote: ↑Sat May 05, 2018 4:03 pm
Why is the Nile itself lit up?

It's not. Just the riverbanks are lit up.

The Great Bend of the Nile