Indian-born NASA astronaut Anil Menon has shown us an amazing view of Earth from orbit in a time-lapse video of Earth at night. Captured from the forward window of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, it mixes city lights, fishing boats, thunderstorms and the star-filled sky in a striking vision from space.
Menon shared the footage on X and explained how the time-lapse was made and some of the details visible in the sequence. The dark surface of the Earth is lit up with clusters of city lights, while thunderstorms are visible on parts of the planet. And above the horizon, the Milky Way, stars and distant galaxies are visible as well.
The astronaut pointed out the different colors that become visible when Earth is observed from orbit after dark. Among the most distinctive features are blue lights from squid-fishing boats spread across the ocean. These lights are small points on otherwise dark stretches of water, in contrast to the much brighter concentrations of urban illumination.
Menon said the footage was taken from the Dragon spacecraft's forward window using three-second exposures. The images were then combined to form the time-lapse sequence. He said the video shows what the view would look like from the spacecraft window, but the time-lapse itself makes the movement look like it is slower.
The combination of different light sources makes the footage especially striking. City lights are big and concentrated on the land and fishing boats are scattered blue across the oceans. Lightning storms glimmer a little, just briefly in the middle of the night. The stars and Milky Way above the Earth’s curved horizon give a better view of the sky.
Earth-at-night imagery has been used over the years to display patterns of human activity around the planet, but seeing them from orbit is a different perspective. From the Dragon spacecraft, Menon’s footage places the urban areas, oceans and atmospheric phenomena in the same frame, but also shows the celestial objects beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.
The video has received rave reviews on social media and the contrast of Earth’s illumination to the night sky is striking. The footage also shows how astronauts can make use of photography and time-lapse to record things which would be too hard for them to see from the ground.
Menon's latest post is part of his wider collection of photographs and videos taken during his time in orbit. Before that he had also posted star-trail photos of Earth from space. One image showed a warm golden glow over India and another showed a vivid red streak near Vietnam, with fishing boats visible offshore.
The images of Earth from space are visual records of Earth from the view of astronauts on board the spacecraft. They also indicate how the planet changes from place to place and from light to light and atmosphere.
The latest time-lapse is especially interesting because it combines several elements in a single sequence: illuminated cities, fishing vessels, lightning storms and the Milky Way. Menon's explanation of the camera settings and stitching process also gives us a glimpse into how such orbital imagery is made.
As astronauts continue to document Earth from space, images and videos like Menon’s give people a chance to see familiar parts of the planet from an entirely different perspective. The latest Dragon spacecraft time-lapse helps make an ordinary night view of Earth look like a beautiful picture of Earth and human life or nature and a natural environment visible from a space view.
