Science educator James Drake assembled this time-lapse video of Earth at night from International Space Station imagery. Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. (Credit: Infinity Imagined)
This must-see video condenses the International Space Station's night flight over Earth into 60 seconds, courtesy of science educator James Drake. He downloaded a series of 600 pictures from the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth — a voluminous archive of a half-century's worth of imagery from the space station and NASA's manned spacecraft. Then he assembled them into the clip you see here using VirtualDub software.
The flight to the sunrise begins over the Pacific Ocean and zooms at an altitude of about 220 miles (350 kilometers) past Vancouver Island and Victoria, the Pacific Northwest and the American Southwest, Texas and Mexico, Central and South America. The highlights to watch for include constellations of city lights, lightning flashes in the clouds, the stars whirling in the night sky above, the faint brown-yellow atmospheric airglow that rims the eastern horizon, and the glorious dawn at the end.
For more of Drake's work, check out his Infinity Imagined website.
More amazing imagery from orbit:
- Atlantis' descent witnessed from the space station
- Solar storms spark beautiful blasts over Earth
- India-Pakistan border shines out into space
- Egypt's river of light snakes through the night
- Slideshow: Month in Space Pictures
Tip o' the Log to Fraser Cain at Universe Today.
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding me to your Google+ circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.


Extremely cool.
Extremely cool.
WOW! Just WOW!
(So, look after it.)
@lifemachine
Amazing view, but they should redo it with 5 or 10 times the # of pics. The jumpiness is distracting.
awesome
Utterly amazing, fragile and equally as strong as the tiniest microbe could or would possibly be at an apex of its unfoldment. The unique creation of the collective creation which endeavors to good in everything....
Keep these beautiful videos coming----I am awestruck.
Earth from space---please keep these beautiful videos coming---I am awestruck
Thank you for sharing something so incredible. This is simply beautiful and humbling. Thank you. :)
It is beautiful
Praise God for His goodness!!!
Beautiful Earth- we have a duty to keep it that way.
So fake,just like most of NASA.Paying tax for crap.
Yeah, crap like all this modern technology people take for granted. Go educate yourself: http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/
Dazzling, just dazzling, how much did it cost?
Dunno, how much does a decent camera cost these days?
Was it tied to a balloon?
..... it was on the ISS, did you read the article? If you're talking about launch costs to get said camera into orbit, I really don't feel like doing the math at the moment.
Yeah, I was being sarcastic. In other words it cost more than a decent camera.
spectacular! <3
It is awe-inspiring - I wish it went just a little slower, but I can play it again and again.
P.S. "Something" - crawl back under your rock. And give away your PC or whatever you're using.
For the earth is the Lord's and all it contains
For those ignoramuses who don't think humans can affect the weather and cause global warming. They should look at how thin the atmosphere is compared to the size of the earth. The atmosphere can be clearly seen as a narrow band encircling the vast planet that is being overrun and choked with pollution by mankind.
75 miles thin
looks cool but also looks like a good anime
Be sure to set the resolution to HD
love it was realy good and love the music too who did the music and whats it called.
I want this as a video wall-paper for my desktop O.O
MAGNIFICENT!
Only a magnificent God can create something so magnificent...Praise God for His works!
macliz1
What if I'd rather praise Buddha instead?
gone in 60 seconds
Did anyone notice at 55 seconds theres what appears to be a shooting star or craft in the background by the stars...it lasts for 1 or 2 seconds...pretty cool..does anyone know what that is for sure?
More than likely another satellite.
Its so sad that there is so much anger and hatred on this beautiful planet that God created.
I was a little disoriented at first, but I found my home state and hometown :)
Wow.
Images and compilations like these need to be made available, and advertised, to the public. Sometimes a little perspective can help, and make you appreciate how very fragile life can be.