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NASA / NOAA
This picture of Earth at night is based on 1994-1995 satellite data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Linescan System, which maps the location of permanent lights on the planet. The borders of North Korea are outlined in white, with Japan off to the right, China to the left and South Korea below.
The death of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, serves as a reminder that the hard-line communist country has long been in the dark — literally. A white border highlights the dark spot known as North Korea in this visualization of our planet's city lights.
This iconic "Earth at Night" picture is based on data gathered by military satellites in 1994-1995, just after Kim inherited power from his late father, Kim Il Sung. The darkness shows how much North Korea has lagged behind its neighbors — South Korea, China, Russia and Japan — in electrification and industrial development. Updates of the data sets show that there's been no change in North Korea's city-light situation between 1992 and 2009. Check out NOAA's "Science on a Sphere" webpage for more about the "Earth at Night" satellite data project.
A different kind of satellite project shows where North Korea has made progress during the dark age of Kim Jong Il: For years, the Institute for Science and International Security has been using satellite imagery to document the state of North Korea's nuclear program. Pictures acquired from orbit over the past couple of years show new construction at the country's Yongbyon nuclear center.
Here's a recent picture of the Yongbyon site from DigitalGlobe, a commercial satellite imaging venture. ISIS says the blue roofs on a gas centrifuge plant and an adjoining building appear to be part of increased construction activity:
DigitalGlobe
This high-resolution satellite image from DigitalGlobe, acquired on Nov. 4, 2010, shows new construction at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear site. The building with a deep blue roof is thought to be a gas centrifuge plant.
"Whatever the purpose, these activities show that more is going on at Yongbyon than commonly believed," ISIS analyst Paul Brannan wrote in his latest report. The future of North Korea's nuclear program will be a top concern for the United States and its allies as they assess Pyongyang's leadership transition — and satellites will provide the key data for that assessment.
These satellite views of North Korea serve as today's offering from the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar, which presents views of Earth from space every day from now until Christmas. Catch up on these previous entries from the calendar:
- The full Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
- Dec. 1: An ornament in outer space
- Dec. 2: The masses in Mecca
- Dec. 3: Santa's shrinking domain
- Dec. 4: The monster of Madagascar
- Dec. 5: Antarctica stripped naked
- Dec. 6: Streaking for home
- Dec. 7: Pearl Harbor from above, 1941-2011
- Dec. 8: The rise and fall of the Dead Sea
- Dec. 9: How an eclipse dims Earth
- Dec. 10: Psychedelic storm
- Dec. 11: Beauty of the Inland Sea
- Dec. 12: Drone-spotting stirs up debate
- Dec. 13: Light up your St. Lucy's Day
- Dec. 14: Satellite spots Chinese aircraft carrier
- Dec. 15: Hooray for Hollywood
- Dec. 16: Olympics under construction
- Dec. 17: Mystery in the Gobi Desert
- Dec. 18: Glow over Miami
- Hubble calendar, from The Atlantic's In Focus
- 2011 Zooniverse Advent calendar
Tip o' the Log to Ezra Klein's Wonkblog at The Washington Post and Afrikent.
Correction for 11 p.m. ET: I mistakenly referred to "Science on a Sphere" as being provided by NASA, when it's actually provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sorry about that! Must have been because the first time I saw the "Science on a Sphere" display was at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
Its not like they don't have light bulbs there. They just turn off the lights after everyone's in bed. What's wrong with that? Maybe they should, for safety, have one big centralized night lite, in case someone has to go to the bathroom.
maybe north korea is worried about the environment and light pollution? who gives a @!$%# if ur shiny in space? i mean really u should b worried about nature and preserving the planet. north korea not being lighted up is more of a statement then it being lite up like the lexor hotel
The point is it speaks to North Korea's utter and total oppression of its people.
yah B33, that's it, the murderous Commies in N. Korea are heroes of the environment.
What a way to look at things.
Check their rivers first, though, before you hand out any awards.
The miracle of govt-run socialist economics.
Wait, why are Democrats trying to drift us closer and closer to a government-run economy again?
To "help" us all out, right?
we'd have to drift about a million miles to get to north korea, economy wise.
lets go back to the good old days of rivers that caught on fire due to everyone just dumping whatever they wanted into our water supply. Those were the days!
No, how about the good old days of the 1920s and 30s when people were still dumb enough to think more socialism was good and the wave of the future.
The socialists and communists back then were polluting like nobody's business, so your bases are covered there as well.
Between 9 and midnight every day is baby making time. The exalted grand high poobah deemed it so and it can only be done with the lights out. I just made that up, but maybe.
Actually, they are doing such a poor job in that department that if we just let them be for two or three generations then they'll be pretty much gone. Ever notice how even in the daytime there everything looks pretty much deserted? Makes you wonder where they got the workforce to build those monumental-looking but seemingly empty buildings. Their birthrate is the lowest in Asia and one of the lowest in the world.
Let's hope when the light of the morning sun hits the country, the people will be in power. Although I doubt that will happen with so many arms pointed at them.
And we can't figure out how to conserve that much power......turn off the lights America......
With the dawn of computers, we need less government. Our own government in the USA is fighting this fact. So many informed and educated citizens who can control their own destinies. Imagine what that can do for government spending.
Great point, Khan. Modernization and improved technology is anti-thetical to heavy government involvement in people's lives, not vice versa. May your yurt stand strong against the winter chills this season.
It's actually going to come down to it. If we all want real freedom - we are going to have to fight against our own governments! I'm including ours, the USA, as well as all those other people who are surpressed around the world. Be blind in not seeing our government supporting dictators for decades to keep power. Now the wealthy of our country have been seeing that their ploys have been being unveiled and they are becoming more and more naked before the rest of us and they are retailiating against us. They want to keep us their slaves. Be blind. Don't pay attention. Let your children work as slaves to them.
An anarchist attitude is not going to help the world rid itself of the problems we face on a daily basis. Education is the number one resource that we can use to combat future violence. If you look at the threats that have been imposed on other people, it starts with and ends with those who lack knowledge. We raise our children to believe what we do. If the government imposes restrictions on what we can teach our children... like N.K. did... their future will only be war minded. This can be seen in a lot of other countries that lack education like Russia, Iraq, Iran, even in Germany when Hitler was seen as a LEADER! We need to educate the FUTURE of tomorrow in humanities first.The Government is NOT the problem
We have to clean our own country. We have to become the country our founding fathers meant us to be. Then we can start helping other countries!
Because logic does not apply to the survival of humanity, I know that someday, we are all going to die at our own hands.
We are now posed to watch the wealthy protect their own! Watch and remember because it will be your children's future as slaves that you are observing.
What did MT say? it got lost in the comments. Keep it forward.
Did ya see Florida the other day?
Maybe North Korea is just practising intelligent conservation measures, while the rest of the planet shoots off millions of years' worth of stored energy in one gigantic fireworks display. If the photo shows one kind of darkness, it's also showing us another.
I bet a big nuke would light em up. Don't mind giving em a helping hand.
Save the Nuke attitude for your BIG MAN t.v. dinner. There is no justification in killing millions of innocent people just because they don't live the same lifestyle that you do. When you allow yourself to believe that we just need to NUKE people because they believe or live their lives different than we do, we become no different than the Nazi regime. I choose to be different, judge me not.
Praise NK for smallest carbon footprint!
north korea is the first entire country to go green,no waste of electric in that country.
Who ever knew North Korea was so green?
Yes! strike now while the lights are out! I like that idea... then spread education and other frightening things amongst the population! ... no, it won't happen. I suggested a 'birthday card' to 'beloved lardbrain'... er... 'Gloriouse Drivil' or whatever his title was when the nuclear testing thing came about, but Obama wouldn't go for it... it involved skywriting over the festivities with thirteen cruise missles doing the American Flag and "Happy Birthday from Uncle Sam- where's your Air Defence?" before they ditch and self destruct in the Sea of Japan... I thought it was a cute idea, anyway... but as I said before, Obama wouldn't go for it so there you are.
the Old Sgt.
When I see this, I think of a lot of reasons to keep this "blip" on the global map the same. First... I'm sure you can see every star in the sky as clear as in some parts of Kentucky. Second... Anthropologically speaking, there needs to be a culture preserved the way it is to be used as a study against the commercial market that we have been absorbed into. Third... Is it so bad that the world might have a last third world society? Fourth... Every "Third World" society has gained on the U.S. in Technology and Medicine, this could put a halt on the U.S. being the last on ALL fronts. Fifth... Just think about how quiet it is out there... "crickets"
thank god this crazy bastard is dead..... to bad seal team six werent alive to kill him...
Aw...Look everyone they're going green ...Ha! or it's called dictatorship! That's what going green in this country will look like as well under Al gores dictatorship pushing for this Go Green Crap, Ha ha ha....
Oh they "North Korea" goes dark all the time!! not just for this day!
So they don't have street lights, but we are to believe they have nukes? right.
What's going to be interesting is to see China's reaction to this. They have kept the crazed lunatic on that strategic street corner armed with nukes for some reason or another. Now that he's gone let's see what happens. Remember that the only reason he was there in the first place was for China's buffer zone.
I wonder how much energy it took to keep those reactors going while people were freezing to death at the hands of the "great leader"?
I guess if a North Korean somehow was able to afford a telescope and somehow was able to smuggle it into the country the lack of lights on North Korea would make a great place for star gazing.